Сүх

by MintyFeet

An Au Ra hailing from the Azim Steppes finds herself violently thrown from her homeland into a world entirely unlike her own. Here, in the land of Eorzea, she will forge her own path and find her true calling: that of a warrior, ready to face foes both old and new.

10. Chapter 9

FINAL FANTASY XIV
BOOK I: A REALM REBORN
PART ONE: IN THE COMPANY OF ADVENTURE

4TH SUN OF THE FIRST ASTRAL MOON
YEAR 5 OF THE SEVENTH UMBRAL ERA
Limsa Lominsa

The group made their way up past the Aetheryte Plaza and out to the Zephyr Gate; they traversed the long, wood-stone bridge that connected the seaside city to the mainland of Middle La Noscea, ambling across past the occasional chocoobo-pulled cart.

"So, my vision showed us speaking with a man who wore the garb of a farmer," Kanna asked, "and I was hoping you could fill me in on the details?"

"Hmm. There - apparently, I've not heard them - have been rumours of kidnappings in our city," Xomni'to noted. "I have no idea where these rumours come from-"

"-that's 'cause you don't got friends what do the rumours-" Baatar interjected.

"-but, they're serious enough that apparently the Maelstrom's lookin' favourably upon adventurers takin' a look at the thing."

"Kidnappings?" Kanna mused. " Hmmm. I have heard some of the cooks speak of such things, though I would note that gossip between cooks is hardly a reliable source of information."

"'Ere," Baatar said, tossing Kanna the folded letter from Commodore Reyner. "There's the facts o' the thing."

"How queer," Kanna muttered, tail flicking back and forth as she read the letter. "It must indeed be serious if the Maelstrom's getting involved - even in such a small capacity." She handed the letters back to Baatar, who stuffed them into a pouch on her belt. "Still, I do wonder if this is not simply a rumour that has gotten out of hand."

"Well, normally I'd be agreein' with ye," Momolk replied, a thoughtful expression on her face as she looked up to meet Kanna's gaze, "but this'll be a thing that's been said for more than a few moons, aye."

"Doesn't make it true," Xomni'to offered.

"Well that's what we goodly adventurers'll be for, eh?" Baatar nodded to herself and grinned. "A mystery! A fine way to be startin' our adventure, I thinks. None've this shite what has us killin' ladybugs 'n chickens or summat."

"Well enough, I suppose. Odd, too, that our first venture into the world of adventure leads to Summerford Farms," Kanna mused. "I have been there more than once during my time with the Bismarck. Never did I think it would serve as any more than a place to procure foodstuffs."

"Oh. How's the place, then?" Baatar asked. "We buys their goods for the brewery, aye, but I've ne'er been in person."

"It is a farm," Kanna noted dryly. "You have been on a farm before, yes?"

"Oi, ye don't needs to be rude 'bout it," Baatar replied. "I nots been, aye, but I worked some farms when I were younger."

"I've not been t'a farm before! Is it pretty-like-a-paintin'?" Momolk asked eagerly.

"Ah...beautiful, yes. Natural. But the land does smell of manure," Kanna explained sadly. "As one who did not grow up on a farm, or spend much time on one, I must admit that the smell of manure does little to complement the view."

The group of four fell into silence as they reached the end of the bridge; the guards on duty nodded at them as they passed into the lush, green countryside of Middle La Noscea, and Baatar let out a low whistle as they took in the sprawling fields before them.

"Well I'll be. Now here's a pretty thing," Momolk muttered.

"Pardon?" Kanna asked, perplexed. "No. You cannot be saying that you haven't seen La Noscea since the bridges were repaired."

"Uhhh….I haven't?" Baatar answered, wrapping her tail around her waist and scratching at her butt with the tip of her scaly tail. "I been to Moraby with these two, I have. Aleport, too. But not here."

"How? Your mother trades with Summerford Farms, no?"

"Aye, but Staelwyrn an' 'is folk, they brings the cart to town," Baatar replied sheepishly. "An', uh, I's no reason to be goin' outta the town, what with Ul'dah bein' but a teleport away."

"Baatar's more or less got the right of it," Xomni'to added. "The city's big enough, and we - well, at least until now - have spent enough time at sea that simply being in the city is a pleasure."

"I suppose that...is a reasonable enough answer."

The walk from Limsa Lominsa's outskirts to the Summerford Farms took nearly three bells; the pace they chose was a slow one, with plenty of time set aside for Baatar and Momolk to ooh and ahh over the cliffside views of the ocean and the various critters scurrying about the grasslands. Soon enough, though, they arrived at a long stretch of fenced-off farmland where dozens of swarthy, muscled men and women worked the fields; a large house sat atop a hill which overlooked the farmland, with a spiral path leading up to the hill's summit. The farmers milling about the base of the hill paid little mind to the would-be adventurers as they ascended the spiral path; there, standing outside the house which served as the farm's office stood an old, dark-skinned Roegadyn man, clad in pink-dyed hempen robes. A worn eyepatch covered his left eye, and despite bearing little more than a few tufts of balding white hair upon his head the man wore a prodigious beard.

"Ahh! Kanna - and, wouldn't ye know't, Idree's kids! How'll you four be, eh? And what's with yer getup?" Staelwyrn Rostnzantsyn said, waving a massive hand at the group.

"Oi, afternoon t'ye," Baatar said as the others greeted the man. "How's the farmin' this sun, eh?"

"Ahh, the same," Staelwyrn replied, gesturing to the farmlands around him. "Y'know the farm'ands...buncha lazy louts, most've them. Theys all heard th'Admiral would be payin' them to work the land, 'stead o' pirating, and they thoughts it'd be easy - so when I tells them to be wakin' up at sunup they'll be all pissed-like."

"One must wonder why they accepted the deal in the first place," Kanna muttered.

"Coin, I'spose," Staelwyrn replied, shrugging. "Prob'ly thought farmin' were an easy life, th'idiots. Anyroads, you lot look like a rich buncha 'venturers - yer 'ere for the thing from the Maelstrom an' ol' Baderon?"

"Aye, that'll be so," Xomni'to answered. "Something 'bout kidnappings, or the like?"

"Shite, keep yer voice down," Staelwyrn hissed, glancing down at the farmers milling about the bottom of the hill. "Look, this talk'a folks what go missin', it's got me workers right pissin' themselves, it does."

"Have any of your farmers actually been kidnapped - or, at least, gone missing? Kanna asked.

"We - well, no," Staelwyrn replied, rolling his eyes, "but that don't mean they're wrong fer sure neither." He paused, scratched his head, then nodded to himself. "See, normally, when me workers start moanin' 'bout things I tune'em out, but lately they been sayin' that there's been a buncha right savage-lookin' louts, what been creepin' 'round the farms an' spyin' on'em."

"Savage-lookin', huh," Momolk mused. "And yer farmers'll be thinkin' these folks're the kidnappers that the rumours'll be speakin' of?"

"Jus' so," Staelwyrn replied. "I haven't seen them with me own eyes, but by all accounts they'll be swarthy, muscled folk what have these strange blue tattoos on'em. 'Fraid that's all I has for ye."

"What? Haven't yer farmers the foggiest ideas as to where these tattooed louts'll be comin' from?" Baatar pressed.

"I mean...sure," Staelwyrn answered. "Any'a yous has a map?"

Momolk popped open her satchel and pulled out a worn parchment map of the La Noscean region; she proffered it to Staelwyrn, who knelt down to take it. He studied it for a moment, then pulled a thick graphite stick from his belt and circled a few spots. "Well, 'ere's the most likely places I can be thinkin' of - there's the Driftin' Caves, to the south a tad, along the cliffside - lotsa little nooks'n crannies what can be hidin' a fellow. Same fer the caves up on Woad Whisper Canyon, up north past the The Descent. Oh, an' I s'pose there's Seasong Grotto, where they put the Sailor's Requiem statue." He rolled the parchment back up, knelt down and handed it back to Momolk, who stuffed the roll into her pouch.

"Well, I 'spose we best be gettin' out there an' searchin' for clues all quick-like, eh?" Baatar said. "Thanks fer the markin's - we'll be back if we does find summat or not."

"Be safe, then," Staelwryn said gravely. "I'll not know what sorta miscreants you'll be lookin' fer - and if they'll be the kidnappers, well, I can't say you'll be safe speakin' to'em. Come back in one piece, y'hear? I'll not want Idree tearin' me a new arsehole."

"Aye, we'll be a'right," Baatar replied. "Anyfolk tries to be kidnappin' us, I'll blow their fuckin' kneecaps out."

Staelwyrn snorted a laugh and waved as the group descended the spiral back down to the fields; the group walked a bit away from the farm, and clustered together.

"May I have a look at the map, Momolk?" Kanna asked; Momolk nodded and tossed the parchment up to her. "Hmm. Now, if I were a roguish criminal bent on hiding from the authorities, I would probably wish to avoid the Seasong Grotto - the caves within would be too obvious a choice, I think."

"Aye, ye says such," Xomni'to replied with a frown. "But th'aether there's thick-like - something'll be up, I think."

"Wot," Baatar said, scratching her horns. "Hows you know a thing like that?"

"What, can ye not use yer eyeballs? Look," Momolk said, pointing at a section of hill that sloped out of sight. "That's queer as shite, that is - I never did see any aether that's...purple. First time, I'll wager."

"Wait. You can see aether?" Kanna asked, perplexed.

"What, can you not?" Xomni'to replied, frowning.

"Naw, ye thick bastard," Baatar replied. "Nobody'll be seein' aether 'less you be doin' magic or the like."

"Well I can see it," Xomni'to shot back.

"As can I," Momolk replied uneasily.

"The shite - why's you never said nothin' 'bout it?" Baatar muttered.

"'Cause there's nothin' to be said. Normally," Xomni'to explained, "aether's just...itself. Blue, white, flows in the air. Only time I've seen different was durin' the Calamity, and I figures everyone could be seein' the red stuff then."

"Fire?" Kanna frowned. "You do mean fire, yes?"

"I dunno," Xomni'to replied. "I was busy tryin' not to be turned into paste by the moon-bits."

"Well, I says we go see the Grotto first anyhows," Momolk said, shrugging. "Far as I can be seein' it, aether's not s'posed to be purple, nor all...whirly-like. Let's be seein' why."

The Seasong Grotto was known to the group; Baatar recalled that a statue bearing the text of the Sailor's Requiem had been placed there not long after the Calamity, in honour of those who would and had perished at sea - and such that the souls of any sailors who died on land might find their way back to water. Still, neither had been, and when the group arrived at the mouth of the cave Baatar could not help but smile and feel a sense of approval at the candle-lit cave which was tucked into the ground.

"Hold," Momolk said suddenly, tapping Baatar's leg before she could walk down the short stone ramp that had been placed at the cave's entrance.

"Wot, ye got cold feets?"

"No, hold up. Something's not right," Xomni'to muttered; with a quick press of the button on the side of his monocle he switched lenses, and focused on a spot just before the stone monument which lay in the centre of the cave. "There, Momo - you see it?" he said, pointing.

"Aye. Lookit, th'aether's all...fucky, by the front 'o the monument," Momolk muttered.

"I don't see nothin' where yer pointin'," Baatar noted.

Kanna smiled and shrugged. "Well, apparently the two of us lack their aether-sight. Perhaps it would be best just to follow their lead?"

"I 'spose."

Baatar and Kanna followed closely behind the Molkoh siblings as they slowly crept down the ramp until they were no more than ten of Xomni'to's bigger paces away from the monument; Momolk yelped slightly and Xomni'to let out a low growl at an unseen thing.

"Here," Xomni'to hissed, prodding at a space directly in front of the monument. "There's, how to explain it - there's an odd sort of aetheric disturbance right here. Circular in shape, grey-purple instead of blue and...queer."

Momolk nodded and traced a line from the base of the monument up to the ceiling of the cave. "Aye, there's - it's faint, but there'll be like a sorta line? I guess? Aye, an aetherline up that goes outta the cave, I thinks. Not sure where it goes - it'll be too faint for me to be seein'."

"A trap, I would wager," Kanna muttered darkly. "If we'll not be able to discern the direction this trap, ah, signals to, I suppose the best thing to do would be to...trigger it? Then see what happens next?"

"Aye, there's an idea. I'll not see no traps or the like...maybe it'll call some'a these kidnappin' folk? That'd be a real nice thing," Baatar agreed. "Then we cuts their baws off and haul'em back to Limsa for a fine interrogatin'."

"Or the trap might explode and kill all of us," Xomni'to noted dryly.

"No, it'll not be the right sort. This'll not be thaumaturgy," Momolk said, scratching her chin. "If y'ask me, the circle, it kinda looks like arcanima - don't it look like a signal beacon array?"

"I - yes, I suppose I can see the resemblance. It's got the quadruple-rectangle array by the bottom, anyway," Xomni'to noted. "And-"

"-I am the waves that bear," came a rich, cultured-sounding Lominsan accent from the cave's entrance. "I am the winds that guide. I am the evening sta-"

"-shut it, ye daft shite," Baatar said, glaring daggers at the newcomer - a white-haired Miqo'te sunseeker, garbed in white short robe and leggings; a wand and a queer three-lensed device hung from her belt. "We's busy - don't be readin' the damn Requiem for us! It'll be right on the stones - we can read it ourselves."

"I - ah - of course," the woman replied, her expression both unamused and yet still bearing a smirk. "So, what are you four fine adventurers doing here this sun? I had come to investigate an aetheric disturbance in the area, when I saw you four entering the Seasong Grotto."

"We's here thinkin' 'bout whether we should be activatin' this trap 'ere," Momolk replied, pointing at the (supposed) aetheric circle by the monument.

"How...how do you know there's a trap there?" the woman replied.

"Twelve, can none of ye see aether proper-like?" Momolk answered, throwing her arms up in frustration.

"Wait. You can see aether?" The woman frowned. "That is interesting. Very interesting indeed. Well, I had hoped to find some clue of the kidnappers of rumour, but an aetheric trap? That, too, would serve as an interesting answer." She pulled the lensed-device from her belt and strapped it to her face, before frowning and tucking it back onto her belt. "And you are correct - there is a trap, or at least a signal of some sort there."

"We should be settin' it off," Baatar said eagerly.

"I agree. It serves us ill to simply stand here and wonder about these kidnappers, when some party has set a manner of trap for any would-be worshippers. Perhaps, though, we ought to prepare ourselves before we trigger the trap, in case something untoward is called upon us?" Kanna offered.

"A fair idea. Momolk and I will prepare barriers; Baatar, you should probably take the front line, what with your armour and thick skull," Xomni'to noted.

"Wait. That'll be an insult, won't it," Baatar replied.

"Yes. It was. Congratulations, you made record time on figuring it out."

"Go fuck yerselfs," Baatar grumbled as she unsheathed her axe and drew one of her sawn-offs before adopting a ready stance by the mouth of the cave. "Oi, Kanna, you keep behind me - whatever might be comin', we'll not want aythin' touchin' the Molkohs, even as armed as they might be."

"Fair enough." Kanna walked in between Baatar and the Molkohs, a hand on her black sword. "I am ready."

The white-haired miqo'te woman watched with interest as the four adventurers checked their gear, tightening straps and checking their weapons; Momolk and Xomni'to both flipped to pre-drawn arrays near the front of their picatrixes and traced the quick-fill lines required to summon their familiars. The worn emerald that always hung around Xomni'to's neck flared to life, as did the small chunk of topaz Momolk wore around her wrist; in short order, two sets of magic arrays flared as the aetherconducting ink on the pages lit up a brilliant white - and two four-legged, long-eared Carbuncles popped into existence at Momolk and Xomni'to's feet - one yellow, the other blue.

Thought she did her best to hide it, it was fairly obvious by her look and her twitching tail and ears that the white-haired miqo'te found the situation somewhat amusing. "So you four are...new to adventuring?" the woman asked as Momolk and Xomni'to both began casting Protect on the group as a whole, heaxagonal barriers popping up around each person in the cave.

"Aye," Baatar answered, still scanning the mouth of the cave. "Why y'askin'?"

"You just seem...very put-together for adventurers who are starting their careers. And I must also say I've never seen an axe-woman carry two sawn-off shot-guns as a backup," the woman said with no small amount of amusement.

Baatar shrugged. "I never done shot a sod with one've these, but I has done so on a swine carcass. Worked good 'nough for me then."

In short order the group of four was ready; the white-haired-woman took a deep breath and drew the small maple wand from her belt. "Well," she said slowly, "I suppose you lot will be wanting to activate that trap? I myself have some skill in conjury, so if it is no problem I hope you shall not decline my assistance."

"Hehe, who's to be turnin' down some free healin'? Makes my job easier. And so I says: nothing ventured," Momolk said eagerly before sticking one of her tiny booted feet into the circle.

Momolk frowned and stomped around in the circle for a few moments; Xomni'to made an odd sort of grumbling noise. "Here. Let me try." He stuck a leg in and flinched as the circle audibly dissipated; the assembled group turned back for a moment before a pounding noise from above the cave caught their attention.

"Well, I suppose that answers the question as to whether that was a trap or not," the conjurer muttered.

"Hold, hold, hold," Baatar shouted as the noises grew louder.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

Several massive grey blurs dropped from above the cave's entrance down onto the ground; the dust kicked up by the things cleared a moment later, revealing at least a half-dozen grey-skinned creatures which stood several heads taller than any roegadyn, their bodies fat and their arms lanky; small, beady eyes peered at the group and mossy protrusions wobbled atop their heads as they belched and shouted at their would-be-prey.

"GOOBBUES!" Baatar shouted, taking aim with her blunderbuss. She fired a spray of shot into the eyes of the monster closest to them; it screamed and flailed around in pain, blinded and bleeding from the cluster of metal balls embedded in its eyes and face. Without hesitation Baatar holstered her gun, leapt forward and began hacking away at the lead monster's legs, using the goobbue's size to her advantage as she danced between its stumpy legs. Undeterred, the creature's kin attempted to charge past the first and into the cave; Baatar simply drew her second sawn-off blunderbuss and fired at the second, such that the two screaming goobbues were now blocking the cave's entrance.

"Oi!" Baatar shouted. "Ye takes the second one!"

"Molkohs, I shall strike first," Kanna yelled. "Be ready when I leap back!" Kanna sprinted towards the goobbue blocking the left side of the cave and flung a pair of small knives at the towering beast; one flew into its open mouth, cutting a bloody channel into its tongue, while the other found its mark in the goobbue's right eye; the beast flailed blindly, aiming a swing at Kanna. The swordswoman slid out of the way, hopped onto the creature's extended arm and ran up it before slashing across its face, opening a deep, bleeding wound before she hopped off and rolled back towards the Molkohs and the conjurer. "NOW!"

The three spellcasters and two familiars in the back of the line opened up with a barrage of spells; from the Molkohs came a hailstorm of plain, unaspected aether collapsing in upon itself, tearing chunks of foul-smelling flesh from the creature. The conjurer, on the other hand, raised a chunk of earth from the ground, formed it in mid-air into a conical projectile and fired it into the beast's face, causing it to perish as it fell backwards. Moments later, Baatar's angry screeching turned into a yell of triumph as she rolled out of the way of a noxious, toxic belch from the Goobbue she was fighting and managed to sever the right leg of the creature; it tumbled to the ground, and with a mighty roar Baatar managed to land five solid overhead swings into the beast's eye - and skull. The target of Baatar's ire let out a loud, wheezing gasp as Baatar tore her axe from its head, and Baatar beat her chestplate in defiance and triumph.

"Two down, four more to go," Baatar shouted. "My axe hungers!"

Faced with the fallen bodies of the first two beasts, the next pair of Goobbues had an even harder time trying to push into the cavern; Baatar, as before, held the attention of the one on the right while the others focused on the left. Kanna fended off multiple strikes from the goobbue facing her and was about to go for a strike to its eyes when it lurched forward without warning; Kanna was sent flying backwards into the ground with a bone-crunching crack as one of the goobbues from behind attempted to push past its kin.

"KANNA!" Baatar shouted. "HEAL HER!"

The conjurer - who had been alternating between firing her magicked rocks and healing whatever injuries Baatar and Kanna had been taking - leapt forward, grabbed Kanna by the scruff of her tunic and dragged her away from the frontline; she began healing her with waves of soothing green aether as Momolk and Xomni'to stepped forward to shield her.

Xomni'to dropped his tome as his carbuncle let loose a gust of wind which blasted the entire line of goobbues backwards several paces; he began drawing and firing his pistols until all six were spent, blinding the one Baatar faced and killing the one Kanna had been fighting. Baatar rolled aside from another blow and slew the beast before her, tearing a massive gash across the beast's stomach, spilling blood and gore onto the cavern floor.

Now, only two beasts remained, and both howled in rage at the deaths of their kin; Baatar held the attention of one by cutting a deep slash into its arm, but the other simply barrelled through Kanna's flurry of strikes, making full speed for Momolk; her Topaz Carbuncle managed to deflect several of the creature's blows, but with a roar it managed to lumber past the Carbuncle and snatch the tiny lalafell up in its grasp - and screeched as Momolk buried her (comparatively) tiny hatchet into one of its eyes before drawing her double-barreled pistol and blasting away into the other eye socket. The creature dropped Momolk; Xomni'to caught her as she fell. With a shout, Kanna - who was on the floor being healed by the conjurer - leapt to her feet and sprinted forward, delivering an overhand cut which nearly removed the top of the beast's head before slumping to the floor, clutching her leg in pain.

With only one beast remaining, Baatar leapt over another strike from the side, planted a foot into the gash she'd cut into the goobbue's arm before, and pulled with all her might, sending the beast falling forward; without hesitation Baatar slammed the axe's blade into the creature's skull, drew her dagger and rammed it into the goobbue's left eye, then punched the dagger with enough force that it disappeared into the creature's eye socket.

"Oi! Sound off!" Baatar shouted, panting as the final goobbue let out its final groaning breath.

"I'm up!" Xomni'to yelled.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Momolk said, wiping goobbue spit from her robes and breathing heavily. "Kanna?"

"Oooh, goodness," Kanna said, wincing as the conjurer pat her on the back.

"How do you fare, miss?" the woman asked. "That should have cleared up any injuries - your leg was partially broken, but I believe it should have set and healed properly. Can you test it for me, gently?"

"I shall," Kanna said nervously, flexing her left leg and then - with Xomni'to and Baatar's help - getting to her feet. She took a few experimental steps, then nodded, smiling. "It is sore, but I believe I shall be alright."

"Thank the Twelve. I would be in great distress, I fear, if I had allowed you to take such an injury," the conjurer replied, wiping sweat from her forehead. "Now - the question is, how did these goobues just so happen to come upon this cave in an enraged state, upon our arrival?"

"I dunno," Baatar said, ambling back over to the goobbue she'd slain last and trying to look up the bloody hole she'd carved where its left eye once was. "Maybe it were the fuckin' magic trap?"

"Well, obviously," the woman replied sourly. "I meant to ask if, say, the trap called the goobbues, or if it signalled a third party, or, well, you get the gist of the idea, I'm sure."

"Aye," Baatar replied, patting around the dead goobbue's head. "Oi, look!" She scrambled around to the rear of the beast and jammed a gauntleted arm into a hole in its back; she grit her teeth and grunted in exertion before pulling a thin, many-toothed dagger out with a squelch. "Oi, the fuck's this?" Baatar said, waving the knife around. "Shite, this'll be a rope-cutter, no?"

"Aye," Momolk said, walking over. Baatar knelt down to make it easier to see the blade; Momolk examined it with a frown. "Yup. That'll be a ropecutter's knife, without a doubt."

"Check the other backs," Xomni'to said with a frown.

Baatar nodded and got to work; in short order, she found that each of the goobbues did indeed have the grisly wounds - and daggers - deep in their backs; a few minutes of work later, Baatar laid out all six blades on the ground in front of the memorial.

"Well. Either our culprits are sailors," the conjurer mused, "or they wish to affect the look of them."

"Eh, ye can be buyin' a knife like such in Limsa, no trouble," Baatar pointed out.

"Indeed - and for very little in the way of gil and time," Kanna added. "But, going by the simplest explanation - which often is the correct one - I would wager that...we set off the aetheric trap, then our would-be assailants shoved their blades into our goobbue friends, then directed them here via that aetherline?"

"Well, ye can be figurin' this," Baatar grumbled. "I has to get me knife back from the skull'a this here goobbue." She stared at the head of the felled beast before her, then sighed. "Axey, I hopes you like choppin', 'cause it'll look like that's the way'a things." Baatar got to work hacking away at the skull of the goobbue in search of her dagger when her axe's blade hit something solid enough that the cavern echoed with a ting; Baatar frowned, jammed her gore-spattered arm into the the beast's head and withdrew a blue hexagonal crystal.

"The fuck's this?" Baatar asked, waving it around.

"It's...it's a crystal," Kanna said, walking over with the others to examine it.

"Well no shite it's a crystal," Baatar replied dryly. "Why, I thi-"

Baatar blinked.

She was no longer in the cave.

In fact, she was no longer anywhere, as far as she could tell.

She stood upon an endless, empty plane of black-blue the colour of night sky, flecked with tiny sparkles of white light.

"What'n the fuck…"

HEAR.

The voice rang out; soft, motherly, echoing as though the speaker were everywhere throughout this strange, empty place.

HEAR. FEEL.

An orange mote of light flared to life. Like the sun. Brighter.

The light flashed a dark red; a black-robed man, face obscured by a visor of red.

Baatar looked down to find herself wearing some sort of strange, metal garb; a glowing double-bladed axe in her hands.

The man's mask shone a horrid blood-red; he charged at Baatar, murderous intent clear.

Baatar grinned, raised her weapon. "COME ON THEN, Y'UGLY FUCK!"

HEAR. FEEL. THINK.

They clashed together, the man's outstretched arms blocking Baatar's strike; she screamed in fury, slammed the haft of her weapon into his face and began dismembering him, founts of gore and blood-

Baatar blinked.

She was in the empty plane again, clad in the armour she truly wore, her axe and blunderbusses slung on back and belt.

The man was gone.

A magic array formed beneath her feet, spiralling outwards into a massive circle with six spokes; at the end of each sat an open hole. Empty. Devoid. Wanting.

A lance of light shot out from one of these holes, latching onto the crystal which was once again in Baatar's hands; the hole became full, shining a brilliant, blinding blue at the same time as the crystal.

Then nothing. Blackness. No light.

The sky, a whirling storm of clouds and orange.

Blurs falling to the ground.

Black again.

Then the blue plane again - only now, a brilliant blue-white crystal, conical with the point down, as tall as Baatar was; they floated towards one another, and the voice again.

"I am Hydaelyn. All made one."

Baatar could not open her mouth.

Could not speak.

Could not find words before the majesty of the crystal before her.

"Hearken to me, for at last you hear my call. A Light there once was that shone throughout this realm - yet, it hath since grown dim. And as it hath faltered, so hath Darkness risen up in its stead, presaging an end to Life."

More crystals, all swirling and spinning and orbiting the great crystal which called itself the name of the celestial body Baatar thought she lived upon.

"For the sake of all, I beseech thee: deliver us from this fate."

The crystals grew in size. In number. In majesty. In presence.

"The power to banish the Darkness dwelleth within the Crystals of Light. Journey forth. Lay claim to them."

By now the crystals - all of them, and most of all Hydaelyn - towered over her.

Bigger than anything she could even fathom.

All-encompassing.

All made one.

"By thy deeds shall the Crystals reveal themselves to thee. Only believe, for the Light liveth in thine hearts."

Baatar glanced around - and realized that she was not the only one hovering before Hydaelyn.

There, besides her, was Xomni'to and Momolk and Kanna; they saw one another, yelled and shouted, but no words or sounds could escape their lips.

And there were more.

Dozens. Maybe hundreds. Baatar could not say. Other humanoid motes of light, from three-fulm high Lalafell to roegadyn, six or seven times as large.

Off in the distance, Baatar swore she could see Valére and Cherantai.

All at once, everyone began to glow and spin and ascend and become one with Her.

All made one.

"Go now, my children, and shine thy Light upon all creation."

-x-

"Awake again, are we?"

Baatar groaned as she rubbed at her horns and looked around; she, Xomni'to, Momolk and Kanna were all on the floor of Seasong Grotto; the conjurer was seated on the ground, cross-legged, examining the blades Baatar had yanked out of the goobbues.

"Ahh. You four are awake, and seemingly recovered from your sudden, ah, afflictions," the woman said with a raised eyebrow.

"Shite," Momolk said quietly. "What'n the fuck did - did we just - what?"

"I must confess," the woman continued, "I was surprised when all of you simply, ah, collapsed, after brandishing that crystal around. May I examine it?"

Baatar coughed, picked up the crystal and tossed it now-dim crystal over to the woman; she caught it, put on her goggles and examined it.

"Odd. There's...there's no aether, or the like. Nothing special, as far as I can tell." The woman tapped the crystal on the ground - and flinched as it shattered into a fine blue dust.

"I...I hope that weren't important," Baatar muttered.

The woman looked at her hand, then at the ground, then at the dust in her palm. "Hmm. Well," she said, tucking some of the dust into a vial pulled from her tunic, "I suppose we shall find out eventually. Nonetheless, I must say that I am quite relieved to see that - whatever it is caused your sudden collapses - perhaps a surefit of aether? In any case, you are alright, and that is what matters. "

"Oi, uh, y'know anythin' 'bout a big fuckin' crystal? What calls itself Hydaelyn?" Baatar asked, helping Kanna and the Molkohs to their feet.

"I beg your - oh. Oh." The woman tapped at her cheeks with a wide smile on her face. "Well, I must say, this day has yielded more than a few unexpected revelations."

"I cannot help but note, miss, that not only have you not introduced yourself," Kanna said dryly, "but you also did not answer Baatarsaikhan's question."

"I'm sorry - though I cannot answer your questions at the moment, I mean no harm by it. I am afraid my investigation takes precedence - though I am sure that we shall meet again. In the meantime," the conjurer said, tucking the vial of blue dust into her tunic and nodding, "I suggest you return the evidence - that is, these rope-cutting knives - back to Master Staelwyrn and give him a report of sorts, regarding the possible...piratical nature of our adversaries, kidnappers or otherwise."

"Oi, ye snow-haired furball," Baatar shouted as the woman began to leave the cavern, "what's this investigatin' about, eh?"

"Until next time," the woman said with a wave. "May our paths cross again under the light of the Crystal."

The group watched her go in silence, then sat, looking amongst each other.

"Yer dagger," Momolk said at last. "We still has to be diggin't outta this poor bastard," she said, kicking the dead goobbue with her foot.

"Aye, I does." Baatar grinned and got to work slicing open the beast with her axe. "Now weren't this a right adventure, eh? We fights a lil' horde'a goobbues, we talks to a big fuck-off crystal tower what calls herself Hydaelyn - oh! And we meets a frigid, mysterious bitch of a woman who don't answer no questions."

"Your mother is going to be thrilled, I imagine," Kanna said, shaking her head.

"Aye. She'll fuckin' love this."

"You know, when Aunty Idree said she'd not want you to go privateering, Baatar, she probably imagined we'd be, you know, killing ladybugs and fetching eggs," Xomni'to muttered as Baatar hacked the head of the goobbue apart. "I'm fairly certain that, uh, whatever just happened was not on her list of ideal outcomes."

"Yes. I must admit - I am a little perplexed as to what just happened," Kanna noted. "We - well, first of all, I was wearing...I think it was the robes of the shogunate's guard? - and wielding a blade of light? And then a strange, black-robed man attacked me, and then I was standing with you folk in front of the giant crystal."

"Oh? Odd. I had the vision with the black-robe as well," Xomni'to said, "but I was wearing some sort of...coat, I think. Also, I had a hat with a horn. I think."

"A horn?" Momolk shouted. "The fuck! I didn't get no horn in me vision. Alls I had was a poofy hat or summat."

"Well - I - had - no - new - horn - neither," Baatar grunted as she sliced away more goobbue skull. "Ah! There's me knife," she said, kneeling in the mushy pile of goobbue bits she'd made; she pulled her knife out of the meat mountain, wiped it on her pants and sheathed it in her shoulder-holster. "But you lot says you were attacked by the black-robed feller?"

"Aye," Xomni'to said. "We were about to clash, and then that part of the vision was over."

"HA! Me, I gots to fuck the sod up real good! Cut 'is fuckin' arms off, I did," Baatar said proudly.

"You know, I find it rather fitting that, in a vision from a… crystal that shares the name of our celestial body, you are the only one who managed to turn a prophetic warning into an outlet for your bloodlust," Kanna said with mild distaste.

"Ah, shut it. I thinks it were pretty cool. Whens do I get an axe what cleaves through bone like butter, eh?"

"Start saving that gil," Xomni'to snorted.

"Well, I s'pose we should be gettin' back t'Staelwyrn," Baatar said, sighing as she made a half-hearted attempt to wipe some of the bloodstains from her chestplate. "Y'think we can be leavin' these poor goobbues 'ere?"

"What, you want to move the goobbues?" Xomni'to scoffed.

"Well even if we were wantin' to be doin' so," Momolk pointed out, "ye chopped, like, two've'em into tiny little bits. I'm not fuckin' carryin' round goobbue chunks all day, no sir."

"Ah...but this is a memorial, is it not?" Kanna noted. "Would it not be an ill thing to leave these stinking, rotting goobbue corpses here?"

"Iunno," Baatar replied. "I's new to adventurin', I am. There a rule sayin' y'has to be, uh, movin' yer kills so they don't be in-con-venience-in' other folks?"

"Bollocks to that," Momolk spat. "What? I's, like, a yalm tall. Says I kills me a dragon or summat, what, I'm to be draggin' that shite? I'm strong, aye, but I'm no Roegadyn."

"I simply think it would be the right thing to do," Kanna said, sighing. "But, I suppose you do raise a good point. Could we at least...I don't know, burn the goobbues or something?"

"Ye got oils? Firesand? I gots none've that shite," Baatar said as she slung her axe over her shoulder and began reloading her guns. "Well, I gots powder for me blunderbuss, but that'll not do nothin' 'cept spread the mess, y'ask me."

"I - hrm. Fine. Let us be away, then," Kanna relented. "I fear if we remain here longer the smell shall begin to become truly offensive."

With that, the group of four left the grotto, a gore-covered Baatar cheerfully leading the way; they were halfway back to the Summerford Farms, almost over the top of the hill leading up to the farmland when they rounded the top and ran smack-dab into Staelwyrn and a dozen farmers, all of whom were carrying swords, spears and axes.

"Oh, shite, the fuck happened t'ye?" Staelwyrn said, mouth hanging open at the sight of Baatar.

"I fuckin' killed me a bunch a goobbues!" Baatar exclaimed proudly.

"We killed a bunch'a goobbue, ye glory-hog," Momolk spat as she flicked a piece of eye-jelly from her hatchet.

"Aye, I didn't mean nothin' by't," Baatar replied sourly. "Oh, right, also we talked t'a crystal or summat. Oh! And there were this white-haired bitch of a woman what didn't introduce herself or be answerin' any questions we asked her, 'cause she had some investigatin' or some shit to be doin'," Baatar added.

"White-haired - oh, you must have run into Y'Shtola," Staelwyrn said, scratching at his beard.

"Who'll that be?" Momolk asked.

"Ah, right - she's a scholar of some sort, very well regarded 'round folk who're...scholar-like, from what I hears. Studies aether or summat."

"I s'pose," Baatar muttered. "She were a right arsehole t'us, though, not answerin' our questions or nothin'."

"I'm sure she meant nothin' by't, Baatarsaikhan. Eh, Xomni'to, Momolk? Ye gets into yer research, y'ignore socializin' or the like, no?"

"I - hm." Xomni'to's ears flicked back against his skull as he glanced away and coughed into his fist. "Well, our thoughts on this Y'shtola aside, I suppose you folks saw the goobbues, eh?"

"Aye, that we did," Staelwyrn replied. "One've the guys was takin' a stroll, saw a bunch a goobbues a-thunderin' to yer cave, and we were real worried-like, so we's come down real quick-like. I s'pose we were a tad late," Staelwyrn snorted, gesturing at Baatar.

"Ah, no worries. We did good," Baatar puffed her chest out happily. "Oh, shite! Right - we gots somethin' for ye, but, uh, can I be getting' a tad cleaner 'fore we do any talkin'?"

"Of course! There'll be plenty'a fresh-water for ye back at the farms," Staelwyrn replied.

"Oh. Also," Kanna said slowly, "we, uh, may have left a bit of a mess at the shrine. Is that… okay?"

"Perfect! Did ye know, Miss Kanna, that goobbue meat, bone'n blood works real good as fertilizer?" Staelwyrn said. "I'll get some 'o the folks to fetch carts or summat, and we'll clean that shite up for ye, no problem."

"Ah. Wonderful. I find myself rather relieved at this news." Kanna cast a glance at Baatar. "Baatarsaikhan has even done you the favour of, ah, portioning some of the pieces out for you."

"Aye, I did th - wait. This'll be an insult, won't it?" Baatar shouted. "Oi! Put yer tail up yer arse - shut it!"

The journey back to the farm passed by easily; with Baatar telling the story of their fight (and the others there to chime in whenever she began to get too excited about the grisly details of the encounter), soon enough the group had returned to the top of the hill which overlooked the farms; Staelwyrn himself fetched some old towels and a few buckets of water to let Baatar clean most of the mess from her armour.

"Anyroads, Master Staelwyrn, we found these ropecutters in the backs of those goobbues," Xomni'to explained, laying out the serrated blades on the ground before the group. "Aye, and there was a magic trap laid by the memorial - we think it signalled some other group to sic the goobbues on us."

Staelwyrn picked up one of the knives and twirled it around before tossing it back into the pile. "Ah, shite. Ye think it'll be pirates?"

"Well, it don't have to be," Momolk offered. "Likes we told Y'shtola, any sod can be buyin' these knives."

"But, just as well, it is the simplest explanation," Kanna noted, though her tone was placating.

"Hrm. Well, given that most've my farmers'll be, ah, ex-privateers, I'd not be surprised to be findin' these idiots what send the goobbues after ye'd be pirates, hopin' to lure me farm'ands back to a life'a plunder and the shite." Staelwyrn sighed and let out a groan as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I jus' hopes this shite don't make non've me folk leave. Anyroads, I s'pose I should be sendin' these things back to the Maelstrom - I gots yer words, so I'll write'm down and be sendin' one've me boys back out to the Maelstrom for ye - now, if ye wants more work, I've got it."

"Sure, sure, I'm good fer more," Baatar said eagerly. "Kanna? Yer leg fine?"

"It is alright - sore, as if I had bumped it into something. It shall not hinder me," Kanna replied.

"Well 'nuff, then. So! Uh, let's be seein' what needs to be done. Gurcant - that'll be that there hyur o'er there - he needs some pest clearin' done."

"Anythin' else?" Baatar asked.

"Ah, right. Uhh...well, I's always havin' problems with some've me old sailors not wantin' to be doin' the farmin' they're s'posed to," Staelwyrn said sheepishly. "Now, frankly, I've a gods-damned farm to be runnin', so I can't be chasin' after each o' the sods meself. Now, if ye would be kind enough?"

"Aye, you may be no captain o' a ship now," Baatar said gravely, "but if they'll be yer old sailors, then they's your crew, aye?"

"Aye," Staelwyrn replied. "Well, not alls, sure, but most."

"Well fuck'em, then - ye don't go leavin' yer cap behind. Who's we lookin' for?"

"Ah, there's five've 'em - Sevrin'll be the leader o' the bunch - ye can't be missin' 'im. Bright blonde 'air, wears 'imself a bright-red bandanna, walks around like someone went'n made him Admiral o' the city. The others - well, that'll be Aylmer, Eyrimhus, Sozai Rarzai, 'n Wauter. Holds up - I can be showin' ye lot a picture - come wi' me."

The group followed Staelwyrn into the house upon the hill; the lower floors had been converted into an administrative building of sorts, and a painting showing a large group of sailors sitting in front of a pile of weapons sat upon the wall of Staelwyrn's private office.

"There," Staelwyrn said proudly. "That were me'n the crew o' the Powderkeg, on the left side - 'fore we put our guns down an' picked up our hoes. Right side's most've the pirates what we hired later. Ye want these five - see? That'll be Sevrin, and his ilk," Staelwyrn noted, pointing out a group of five sailors in the edge of the picture.

"Well enough, then. I figure we shall have no trouble finding and exhorting your sailors to return to work," Kanna said with a smile. "Let us be away, then; we shall return shortly."

Finding and sending all of the wayward farmers back to Staelwyrn was easier than Baatar thought it would be; none of the farmers were more than a half-bell away from Summerford Farms, and all of them looked to return to the farm without trouble, though all of them complained bitterly about the difficulty - and boring nature - of farming, compared to their expectations.

"This," Xomni'to said, as the last of the farmers made way for Staelwyrn's office, "feels too easy."

"Wot, ye wants them to be all pissed?" Baatar asked. "Easy'll be good, I wager."

"Easy's also suspicious," Momolk countered, tapping her foot thoughtfully. "Y'd think we'd need t'be doin' more than just hearin' these sods moan 'bout how tough farmin' is to be gettin' them back t'work, eh?"

"Iunno. Plenty'a times one've ye has to be hearin' me whinge 'bout somethin' 'fore I does it," Baatar pointed out.

"Mm... still, one thing does stand out to me," Kanna said quietly. "Did none of you notice that Sevrin bore a blue tattoo upon his neck?"

"Aye," Momolk replied, frowning as she scratched at the approximate spot on her own neck. "That'll be a crew-marking."

"Well, none of the other sailors we spoke to had the tattoo, no?" Kanna shrugged. "I mean, Staelwyrn did say that he drew from multiple privateering groups. I just wonder where the rest of Ser Sevrin's sailors are."

"What - you don't mean to imply that Sevrin's old mates are the kidnappers, do you?" Xomni'to said at last.

"I did not say that," Kanna replied diplomatically. "Merely that, with the talk of tattoos earlier, I simply found it odd that while other people here have old crewmates at their side, he is pointedly alone."

"Eh. Let's jus' be askin' Staelwyrn what the deal's, then," Baatar said cheerfully. They returned to farmhouse where Staelwyrn was; the old roegadyn was sitting on a large wooden chair outside the house, leafing through a clipboard of parchment.

"Oh! You lot're back! Thanks fer findin' me wayward farm'ands - I 'ppreciate the thing," Staelwyrn noted with approval. "Well, I's just the one more job for ye - if ye don't mind, I'll want yet t'escort one've me carts to the La Thagran Checkpoint, twixt Middle'n Lower La Noscea. Not a dangerous route, aye, but

"I am sure we can do such a thing." Kanna looked at the others, who all nodded in turn.

"A'right, then." Staelwyrn smiled and rubbed his massive hands together. "So, the cart, th-"

"-oi! Chief!" The voice came from a ragged, old hyuran man with greying hair and a wrinkled face; he rounded the corner of the spiral hill and stopped, panting.

"Gurcant? What'll be the matter, eh?" Staelwyrn asked, patting the man on the shoulder.

"Yer cart! Th'orange cart - that right cunt Sevrin, 'e took off with't!" Gurcant shouted, pointing a finger south of the farm. "'Im an' is fuckin' mates, they jus' took the thing and hauled arse t'wards La Thagran!"

"What in the Twelve - why? The fuck 'e do that fer?" Staelwyrn shouted, kneading his brow with a long-suffering grimace.

"Iunno," Gurcant spat. "Pfrewahl 'n some've th'others, they says Sevrin were talkin' 'bout fencin' yer goods to a bunch'a goblins or summat."

"Goblins. Sevrin an' 'is mates thinks they can be sellin' me fuckin' oranges to goblins. Yer kiddin' me," Staelwyrn groaned.

"Wot, ye thinks he wouldn't be doin' it?" Gurcant replied in an 'are you kidding me?' tone. "A right fuckwit, Sev's been - shite fer brains prolly thinks it'll be no trouble."

"Goblins?" Xomni'to asked. "What - why would they want oranges, of all things? Last I heard, the goblins 'round Limsa are hunters, not...not connoisseurs of fruits."

"Well ye talks te Sevrin for a minute, eh?" Gurcant noted with distaste. "He looks t'ye like a man who thinks right-like?"

"Naw - carried hisself like a right bastard," Baatar said flatly.

"Well, there's your job," Staelwyrn growled. "Go'n git me my fuckin' orange-cart. If ye finds Sevrin - and 'is mates - ye beats the shite outta them and ye bring'em back 'ere."

"And if we do not find Sevrin?" Kanna asked. "Would you desire us to bring your cart La Thagran as planned?"

"Aye," Staelwyrn replied, nodding. "There'll be a Yellowjacket at La Thagran - Ossine'll be 'is name. Hyur, average height, black 'air an' a pencil 'stache. If ye brings the cart to'im, he'll be givin' ye a sack'a gil, which ye can be bringin' back t'me - ye can leave the cart."

"Right - we'll find yer cart, and - if we'll have the Twelve's luck - break some skulls for ye." And with that promise, Baatar and the others took off and began making their way south of the Summerford Farms, passing back over the small over-river bridge which led back towards the Zephyr Gate; by then, the sun was almost beginning to set. Off in the distance, Baatar and the the others could see the torches which stood at the top of the fortifications at La Thagran, and so they began trekking up the slight incline, following the path that Staelwyrn's farmers were normally supposed to take; they took turns telling each other stories - Momolk of her adventures in Ul'dah, Kanna of her life in Kugane - or, in Baatar's case, the lewdest, raunchiest jokes she could recall (much to Kanna's chagrin and Xomnito and Momolk's amusement, dry and raucous respectively.)

Baatar estimated they were about halfway towards the checkpoint at La Thagran when she spotted a humanoid figure crouched behind a nearby set of bushes; she paused, squinted and spat on the ground a moment later.

"Oi. Oe'er there. Y'see? Hyuran bloke - red bandanna, and I swears, that'll be'n axe - Sevrin, I'll wager," Baatar hissed.

Momolk's monocle glowed for a brief moment as she adjusted its aether-powered lens. "Aye, yup, that'll be Sevrin, a'right."

"Well," Kanna said, "shall we be accost-"

"-OI! SEVRIN! YE FAT DICK'EAD," Baatar shouted, unholstering a blunderbuss and aiming at the bush. "YE COMES OUT, SLOW-LIKE, OR I FILL YER SORRY FACE WITH SHOT!"

"What 'n the fu - a'right, a'right!" Sevrin slowly inched up from the bushes, hands raised above his head; he swore beneath his breath and spat as the group approached.

"Sevrin," Kanna said crossly. "Last we spoke, you said you would be returning to work under the watchful eye of Staelwyrn - and yet, now we hear that you've made off with a cart of his goods? That, if I recall it, is thievery - punishable by hard labour in the mining camps up north."

"And, if I might add, you intended to fence the goods to a bunch of goblins?" Xomni'to shook his head in disbelief. "I can hardly think of a less solid plan, frankly. Where're your mates, eh?"

"W - so, wot, Staelwyrn's got 'venturers what do his work for 'im now, eh?" Sevrin glanced at the group, lingering uneasily on Baatar's sawn-off shot-gun, before jerking a head at a poorly-kept dirt path which forked off the main road. "A'right, fine," he grumbled. "Looks, maybe I weren't thinkin' straight 'bout the goblin-dealin' - but those fuckin' goblins, they double-crossed me'n me mates!"

"And you, the fine, upstanding man that you are, turned tail and ran at the first sight of trouble, leaving your friends to the hands of these goblin hunters?" Kanna said coolly, tail snapping back and forth. "Disgusting. You truly are a pathetic excuse for a man."

"Excuse or no, look - yer ad-venture-ers, right? C'mon, then - ye save me mates, I return th'orange cart, there'll be no trouble, aye?" Sevrin said slowly. "Eh?"

"An' wot, we's to be believin' ye won't just take for the hills when we leaves you?" Momolk mused. "Perhaps we oughta be...bustin' up yer legs, hmm?"

"We gots bandages," Baatar growled, inching forward and lowering her arm until her shot-gun's muzzle was poking into Sevrin's kneecap. "We gots magic, too. Ye wouldn't be runnin' easy without yer fucking knees, would ye?"

"Twelve, ye made yer point! Shite, what adventurer's will ye be?" Sevrin exclaimed. "A'right! I won't go nowhere - I don't want ye chasin' me with yer fuckin' shot-gun, I don't."

"Good. Ye sits yer arse right here," Baatar spat, drawing her knife from its shoulder-sheath and tapping it on Sevrin's head. "I finds ye moved so much as'n ilm, I'll slit ye from arsehole to bawbag. Ken?"

"Good gods - yes! I ken!" Sevrin shouted as he sat down.

"Oh. And your axe, please," Xomni'to added. "We'll need that."

"Need - whats I to do, say, if a goblin comes me way?"

"Ye lay there and ye fuckin' die, ye malignant shite," Baatar cursed. Xomni'to stepped forward and pulled the axe from Severin's back; he tossed it over to Baatar, who adjusted the sling of her own weapon and slung Sevrin's weapon across her shoulders. "Good lad. Sits, and we'll be back quick-like." Baatar kicked Sevrin in the sides for good measure, and with that the four began cautiously walking down towards the dirt path.

"You, ah, were not actually going to shoot Sevrin in the knees, were you?" Kanna asked, once the group had walked for a few minutes.

Baatar looked at Kanna, brow raised.

"Right. Thinking about the matter, I am unsure as to why I doubted you'd do such a thing."

"Wot, ye makes it sounds like the bastard don't deserve't," Baatar muttered. "Double-crossin', that'll be bad 'nough - then leavin' yer mates? Hells. I should'a shived him anyhows, just fer the good of't."

"Do you threaten everyone that upsets you with stabbings?"

"She does," Xomni'to noted dryly. "This one time, when we were in Gridania, so-"

"-oi, oi, who's fuckin' side y'on, brother?" Baatar spat, glaring daggers at Xomni'to.

Xomni'to's ears twitched and a small smile played upon his lips. "Just telling the truth of things, sister dearest."

"Also, the side that amuses us the most!" Momolk stuck her finger up eagerly.

"That too."

"Fuckwits, the both of ya. The way I s- hold," Baatar said suddenly, dropping into a crouch. The others followed suit, and Baatar pointed at a fork in the path which led behind a mountain bend. "There, past the bends - there'll be shadows a-flickerin'."

"Yes, I see it," Kanna noted. "That's...signs of a camp, perhaps?"

"Hold. Lemme - I'll get closer all sneaky-like," Momolk muttered; she crept off towards the corner slowly, falling onto her stomach and crawling as she neared the bend; once she rounded the corner, she scooted backwards, then returned to the group. "Aye - goblins! Four've 'em, and they's rounded up Sevrin's mates."

"Armaments?" Kanna whispered.

"Bombs, daggers - nothin' much, I thinks," Momolk replied.

"Pistols, then," Xomni'to offered.

"Naw - you'll not get a clear shot - the shite's'll be twixt Sevrin's mates. Anyfolk moves, ye might miss," Momolk noted sourly.

"Hrm. A distraction, perhaps? Baatar, if you can lead them away - in a line, preferably - I can be pickin' them off, no trouble," Xomni'to explained.

"Aye - I'll do the thing. Kanna, Momolk, I'll catch th'attention o' these goblins - then ye gets between the goblins'n Sevrin's friends, ken?"

"Sounds like a plan." Kanna stood up with the others; they crept over to the bend in the path, Baatar in the lead; Baatar attempted to poke her head around the corner, bumped her right horn into the rocks, swore, then repositioned and tried again, succeeding this time. True to Momolk's description, there were four squat beasts, smaller than Momolk, entirely covered in leathers - complete masks which covered their bulbous mouths - save for their long, horizontal ears, squatting around a small campfire. Staelwyrn's cart of oranges sat to the side of the fire, and Sevrin's three would-be-partners-in-crime sat, tied with thick rope and looking more than a little nervous.

"A'right - Xomni, gets yer guns out, be ready," Baatar whispered.

"Got it," Xomni'to replied, drawing a pair of pistols and cocking their hammers.

"Here we goes. One, two, three!" Baatar slipped around the bend and ran in a low-crouch towards the camp; the goblins were too preoccupied with searching the cart to notice Baatar until she was but ten paces away from the camp. Standing at her full height, Baatar drew a blunderbuss, unslung her axe and fired into the air with a resounding crack.

"OI, YE CHEESE-EATIN' GOBLIN FUCKNUGGETS, COME'ERE! I GOTS AN AXE WITHT YER NAME ON'T!"

The goblins shrieked, drew daggers and took off after Baatar; she led them away from the camp, drawing them out in a line; she was about to switch shot-guns when four cracks rang out from the rocks by the path, followed by all four goblins falling to the ground, dead.

Baatar let out a low whistle and crouched over the dead creatures; all four bore holes in the sides of their heads. "Oi! Xomni! Crack shot, y'are!"

"Thank you," Xomni'to replied as he began reloading his guns. "I try."

"Eyrimhus! Sozai Rarzai! Aylmer!" Kanna shouted as she and Momolk ran over to the camp. "Are you three unharmed?"

"Who'n the fu - oh, shite, it'll be you lot," Aylmer - a lanky hyuran man - sighed. "Ah, fuckit. Sevrin send ye?"

"Aye," Momolk said, drawing her hatchet and getting to work cutting the three captives free. "He were cowerin' in a bush, he was, askin' us folks to be savin' ye. Couldn't even be arsed to come hisself."

"Pissant," Aylmer spat. "Hells, the threes of us would be gettin' away fine, if Sevrin hadn't shoved us to th'ground as bait."

"Hells," Eyrimhus - a swarthy, dark-skinned roegadyn - groaned, massaging his wrists once Momolk cut him free, "I thought he'd sold us downriver, he did."

"So?" Kanna said sternly as the three got to their feet. "Will you be rejoining Ser Sevrin on his mad cart-thieving venture?"

"Bollocks, more like. Naw, we'll be headin' back to Staelwyrn an' the farms. I quits privateerin' so I could be livin' without worry, I did," Sozai Rarzai muttered. "Not so I could be captured by some goblins or whatnot - oe'er a fuckin' cart'a oranges, no less."

"Very good. We shall return to the Summerford Farms shortly, and I expect to see all three of you there," Kanna noted, a hint of steel creeping into her voice. "If not...well, let us simply say that goblins and wayward oranges shall be the least of your worries."

"Ye don't has to be sayin' so twice, lady. We'll be off!" Aylmer shouted as the three took off at a sprint in the direction of the farms.

"So," Baatar said, returning to the campfire with an armful of goblin-made grenades, "we takin' that cart?"

"Baatar, put those down," Xomni'to said slowly. "You don't need those."

"Wot? Gobbie 'nades - come on, then, you'll know these things'll come'n handy at some point, no?"

"No. Maelstrom forbids the carrying of handheld explosives without a license for a reason, sister." He sighed, and shook his head. "No offence, but if you fumble a grenade while we're fightin', that means we all get blown to bits."

"Ahh, yer no fun," Baatar said, setting the bombs on the ground. "Well, I'll be pushin' the cart - you lot watch the road, then."

"It is getting dark - hold a moment, if you will," Kanna said, drawing a small fire-crystal lantern from one of her pouches; she clipped it to her belt. "There. A little light, such that we may see farther."

Baatar set about checking the cart; it was, indeed, full of orange-stuffed sacks bearing the Summerford Farms name, and despite its heft Baatar had no trouble pushing it along the dirt path back towards Sevrin, with a little help and direction from the others. In short order the group returned, and found Sevrin exactly as they'd left him - still seated next to his bush.

"Oh," Sevrin muttered, "ye found the cart. What 'bout me mates?"

"Headed back to Summerford Farms," Xomni'to answered.

"Sh - hrm. I s'pose I should be rightly shamed fer not bein' able to clean up me own mess - a man should be able to save 'is own mates," Sevrin muttered.

"Yes. Yes, you should be ashamed," Kanna said coolly. "Now get up, such that we may take you back to Staelwyrn - in one piece, hopefully."

"Back t - sod that! Take yer cart and fuck off - oh, and be sendin' Ossine an' Staelwyrn me regards," Sevrin spat, taking off into the night.

"YE FUCKIN'-"

"-easy! EASY!" Xomni'to shouted, grabbing onto Baatar's arm and holding her back from following him.

"Easy? Fuck ye mean? Traitorous bastard - we shoulds be bringin' his nuts t'Staelwyrn!" Baatar shouted.

"Not our job," Xomni'to said quietly, still holding onto Baatar's arm. "And besides, do you think Staelwyrn will be wantin' a shite like Sevrin working his farm?"

Baatar tore her arm out of Xomni'to's grip and spat on the ground. "Shitebird. Fucker deserves a shiv in 'is sides and a stomp to the neck, no more."

"Well, he is no longer our problem," Kanna sighed, shrugging. "Come on then. We can still deliver this cart to La Thagran."

"Hope Sevrin trips on a fuckin' stump an' breaks 'is fuckin' neck," Baatar muttered as she got behind the cart once more.

"So's do we all, Baatar, so's do we all," Momolk soothed as she patted her sister's thigh.

The sun had totally set by the time the group arrived at La Thagran; the checkpoint, a set of fortified gates which blocked access to the tunnels that connected Middle and Lower La Noscea, were lightly manned, though there were enough torches and guards to make the space feel more than safe compared to the darkness beyond.

"Ho there!" shouted a hyuran Yellowjacket. "Who comes?"

"Just some adventurers," Kanna shouted back as they approached. "We come on behalf of Staelwyrn of the Summerford Farms! Will you be Ossine?"

"Aye, I am! Oh, will ye - and you've a cart'a oranges? Yer a tad late," the man said, walking up to the group.

"Apologies," Momolk answered as the man looked down to meet her gaze. "There were a problem - goblins - but they'll be trouble no more."

"Ahh - I see. Wells, then, thanks fer the delivery - here," Ossine said, pulling a pouch of gil from his belt and tossing it to Kanna. "Send my regards t'Staelwyrn!"

"We shall. Thank you," Kanna said, bowing.

So it was that the group returned to Summerford Farms in the pitch-black of true night; when they arrived the farmers - and Staelwyrn - were sitting around a campfire at the base of the spiral hill, singing several sea shanties at once and drinking tankards of ale.

"Oho! Our adventurers return!" Staelwyrn shouted, getting up to greet the returning group. "We heard back from Sevrin's mates - they'll be recoverin' from their little ordeal up in the farmhouse, they will. How fares Sevrin?"

"He ran," Xomni'to offered, shrugging as Baatar tossed Sevrin's axe to the ground with a scowl.

"Ah, piss. Well...I can't say I's rightly sad to hear such, though - watch yer backs. There's a man who's as cowardly as he is sneaky."

"Oh, and your gil from Ossine," Kanna said, throwing the gil-laden pouch to Staelwyrn; he caught it with a grin.

"Aha! The gift I've been wantin'! Well, Kanna, Momolk, Xomni'to, Baatar - I must say it's been a right boon havin' you lot 'round, y'know," Staelwyrn said cheerfully. "If it suits ye, I'll nip down tomorrow to Limsa - I'll be droppin' off some goods to the Bismarck, and I'll stop by the Rising Loaves 'round noon, I thinks."

"Oi, that'll be the thing - come has a drink, maybe pays us a lil' gil?" Baatar offered eagerly.

"A solid plan, that'll be. Can I be offerin' ye lot a drink?" Staelwyrn said, jerking his head back at an ale-cask which sat by the campfire.

The group looked at each other - tired and worn from the day's work.

Baatar thought for a moment.

Realized she felt, for the first time in a long time, content.

"Nah, no needs - we'll 'port back to Limsa, if that'll be fine with ye."

"Well, no problems, then - I'll sees you lot next sun!"

"We shall take our leave, then," Kanna said, bowing deeply.

And with that, the four of them began to draw in aether, felt for the massive aetheric signal of Limsa Lominsa's aetheryte, and with a whoosh winked out of sight.

The Aetheryte Plaza in Limsa Lominsa was well lit; the group was deposited not far from the centre of the plaza and, after a moment to recover from the displacement Baatar let out a small cheer, hopping up and down excitedly.

"Weren't that somethin'! We done a whole day o' adventurin', we did!" Baatar exclaimed, a wide, toothy grin upon her face.

"Heh. We did indeed," Xomni'to noted. "Come on, then - we've barely had a thing to eat. I'm famished. Kanna? Will you come with us to the Rising Loaves?"

"I shall," Kanna replied, nodding.

"A plan, that'll be! Beer and buuz for all!" Momolk shouted.

The group used the local aetheryte network and teleported to the Fishermans' Guild, and after a short walk arrived at the Rising Loaves brewery; despite it being nearly eleven in the evening, there were still a handful of patrons nursing tankards of beer and picking away at dumplings. Oyuun and Edward were behind the counter; they waved as the group made their way through the doors.

"Baatar! Xomni! Momo! And Miss Kanna, a pleasure to see you - so, you four went on an adventure, eh?" Oyuun said, walking out from behind the counter to meet the group. She paused, frowned, and sniffed at the air. "Ech. Baatar, you smell odd - and what's with the stains on your armour and pants?"

"We killed us some goobbues," Baatar replied matter-of-factly. "Where's mum?"

"Oh, she's back at the apartment, no doubt nursing a stiff drink and worrying about how you lot are doing - go on, then! Edward and I will be closing up shop soon - we'll bring some food. You go check in with Idree!"

Kanna bowed as the other three waved; they set off, walking down the road to the apartments above Terbish's clinic. Xomni'to unlocked the door, let the group in and locked the door behind him; the door to Idertuuya's and Terbish's apartment was open, and the two older Xaela got to their feet when the group appeared in the doorway.

"You're back!" Idertuuya shouted, standing up and hobbling over to Baatar. "Gods, I was worried about you four," she said, pulling the entire group into a hug.

"Uh, love ya too, mums, but now you'll have to be washin' yer clothes," Baatar muttered.

"Nhaama and the Twelve, Baatar," Terbish said, frowning, "you're covered in bloodstains! Are you alright?"

"Aye, fine - oh, what a day we's had!" Baatar exclaimed.

"Well, you lot go get yourselves cleaned up, have a short soak, then," Idertuuya said, shooing them away. "Kanna, I've a set of robes that'll fit you better than Baatar's - I think I'll be a tad shorter than her, if only by a little. I'll fetch that for you, if that'll be fine."

"It will. Thank you, Lady Idertuuya," Kanna replied, bowing as Idertuuya hobbled off toward her own bedroom.

"I'll take the upstairs bathroom," Xomni'to noted, heading into the room he, Momolk and Baatar shared; he returned with a clean change of clothes for the three, tossed them their clothes and left.

Baatar led the girls into the bathing room and stripped out of her plate armour as Momolk and Kanna disrobed; she checked the fire-crystal heater in the shower lines, and, satisfied that they were mostly full, pulled the levers for the showers; she scrubbed herself down quickly, finishing before Kanna and Momolk, and got to work cleaning the grime and gore from her armour while the other two finished cleaning themselves. Idertuuya popped the door open a minute or so later, sliding a set of robes into the bathing room, and so it was that fifteen minutes later the three women emerged, clean and refreshed, though tired from the day's work. Clad in their hempen robes - Kanna's only being somewhat ill-fitting - they rejoined Idertuuya, Terbish and Xomni'to, sitting at the dining table where Idertuuya had laid out several cups of tea.

"So, then," Idertuuya said nervously, clapping her hands together as the group sat down. "How was your first day of adventuring?"

"Oh, it were great," Baatar said eagerly, her tail thumping as it hit the back of her chair. "Right, so we mets Staelwyrn, then we's gone lookin' for some kidnappers - then there were a trap! Did ye know Xomni and Momo can see aether?"

"I - hold on, that's not possible. How do you see aether?" Terbish asked, scratching his horns.

"Twelve! Ye just...do," Momolk replied, throwing her hands up in frustration as she wobbled on the cushions she used to sit at table-height. "Buncha - looks, just be gettin' on with th'stoy!"

"Uh, right, then we done killed, like, a half-dozen goobbues," Baatar continued, "and I chopped two t'bits! Then," she said, ignoring the growing look of confusion and concern on her mother's face, "we hads us a vision!"

"What." Idertuuya rubbed at her brow and sighed. "What in the Twelve are you talking about? Like...like one of your visions, Kanna?"

"N - no. This...this was an odd sort of thing - very queer - I shall explain as best I can," Kanna said after a moment. "We felled the goobbues, yes, and then, uh, Baatar dug a crystal of some sort out of the skull of one of the beasts. Then...then we had a vision of a great, towering cystal? It called itself Hyadaleyn, said that we...we had to claim more such crystals, and - and we saw several other people shrouded in light."

"Aye, but we recognized two! Valere'n Cherantai, from Gridania!" Momolk noted, nodding excitedly. "Somethin' 'bout shinin' light on all creation, or summat."

"Rights. Then we wakes up - oh, shite, right, there were some rude-as-shite woman who were all cryptic - anyhows, then we helps Staelwyrn find 'is sailors, and then some've 'em gots themselves kidnapped by goblins, so we killed'em too. Then we came 'ome," Baatar finished, nodding proudly to herself.

Idertuuya and Terbish looked at one another slowly.

"You know," Idertuuya said, shaking her head, "I feel like you...going into detail about your day's adventure, adding context to your very brief and very excited summary, would do little to illuminate what actually happened."

"It was queer," Xomni'to said, "but as far as a day's work could go, I thought it went alright."

"You need not worry, Lady Kha," Kanna said, smirking. "Your daughter may indeed be a warrior at heart, but we survived the day with little more than scratches."

"Aye. It were you, Kanna, what got dinged the worst - honestly I were surprised that we hadn't had to be diggin' Baatar's sorry arse outt've the fire," Momolk sniggered.

"Oi, I dids just fine, no?" Baatar shot back.

"Well, you all seem to be well enough to be bickering as usual" Terbish replied, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now that's a good sign if I've seen one."

"Anyroads, Staelwyrn''ll be comin' t'town t'morrow," Baatar said, drinking her cup of tea and rolling her eyes. "Says he'll be by the brewery 'round noon, he will - payment, an' maybe s'more work if he can be findin' it."

"Well, there you go," Idertuuya said with a smile. "Look at you - already making connections. Though I must admit I'm still confused about the goobbues."

"Aye, an' so'm I," Edward said, barreling through the door with a cask of cool-beer in his arms. "Oi, Oyuun 'n I put wagers on what that bloodstains were on yer armour - I says it were monster blood, and Oyuun said it was people blood."

"It weren't people!" Baatar shouted as Oyuun followed Edward in. "It were goobbue! I says so!"

"Well it wouldn't be the first time you'd lied about something to do with violence," Oyuun scoffed as she set down a tray of dumplings.

"Oi, oi! I done no lies t'day," Baatar replied proudly, snatching a dumpling and jamming it into her mouth.

"Aye, that'll cover the violence, but ye did threaten to be shootin' a man's knees out," Momolk noted dryly.

"You did what?" Idertuuya shouted.

"For context," Xomni'to interjected, raising his hands, "Baatarsaikhan was justified - more or less - in doing so. It was a threat to get a man to remain in his place while we rescued the friends he betrayed."

"I shoulda done the thing," Baatar managed through a mouthful of food. "Bastard ran off anyhows."

"But you did threaten a man with a sawn-off shot-gun," Kanna pressed.

"Aye," Baatar replied calmly. "Threatened to be slittin' 'is arsehole, too."

Edward laughed as he fetched some tankards from the kitchen cabinets and began filling them from the cask he'd brought. "Ahh, the good ol' brand o' 'Baatar Diplomacy', eh? Works like a charm, it does."

"Wot, I were justified in me doin' so," Baatar said, scowling. "Ye knows what, I'll be off t'bed. I'll not sit 'ere an' take yer tongue-lashin's for a good day's work."

"Oh?" Oyuun asked, surprised. "Not even a beer?"

"Naw. Right tired, I am. I'll fetch me a glass'a water and be off - I'll sees ya tomorrow, Kanna," Baatar said, fetching a jug of water from the icebox and heading to her room. "Night, Uncle Terbish, Mums, Oyuun 'n Ed!"

The group watched Baatar disappear into the shared bedroom, watched the door close, turned to each other in silence.

"Did you know," Xomni'to said quietly, "that Baatar turned down an offer of ale from Staelwyrn before we came home?"

"And she's not takin' drink 'fore bed?" Momolk muttered.

"Maybe adventuring is just what Baatar needed," Idertuuya offered as Edward handed her a tankard.

"I do not think I can recall a time when I have seen Baatarsaikhan refuse a drink - let alone twice," Kanna noted. "This day has been queer. Very queer indeed."

-x-

Baatar dreamed, that night, of her in the city of Garlemald, slaying whoever raised arms against her and setting every house, every building ablaze.

The old, wizened Emperor of Garlemald was no match for her axe.

She took his head, speared it upon the sharpened point of her weapon and raised it aloft, so that Nhaama herself could see the blood spilled in her name.

-x-

5TH SUN OF THE FIRST ASTRAL MOON
YEAR 5 OF THE SEVENTH UMBRAL ERA
Limsa Lominsa

"Oi, ye nut, wake yerself 'n stop droolin'!"

"Wot?" Baatar blinked, then swore as Momolk, fully dressed and sitting on her bed, across from Baatar's, tossed a stuffed coeurl toy at her. "Oi, stoppit!"

"Well then gets up!" Momolk shouted, throwing another toy - this one a stuffed bear. "It'll be nearly eleven, it will. Xomni an' Kanna'll be downstairs already, all dressed an' shite. Come on!"

"Fuck off, I'm up!" Baatar caught the next incoming plushie and hurled it back at Momolk; the lalafell simply slid off her bed and under the projectile, shaking her head.

"Ye can't throw fer shite," Momolk sniggered as she scampered out of the room.

"And yer a bitch! Ahh, shite," Baatar muttered to herself. "Now what were I dreamin' 'bout? That were something fine, I thinks." She got out of bed and equipped herself for another hard day of adventuring - cuirass, boots and gauntlets - then grabbed her axe, which was leaning on the head of her bead before slinging it over her back. She checked her pouches, made sure she had her two vials of potions, as well as portions of shot and powder for her guns, then holstered her sawn-offs and made her way downstairs. Terbish was manning the cashier of his clinic, and he smiled as Baatar came through the stairwell doorway.

"A late morning t'you, Baatarsaikhan," Terbish said warmly, looking up from a pile of herbs he was crushing in a mortar. "Your siblings - and Miss Minamoto - are outside waiting for you."

"Thanks t'ye, Uncle."

"No trouble. And be safe, alright?"

"I'll do so," Baatar said cheerfully, heading outside into the midday sun. Xomni'to, Momolk and Kanna were standing off in the distance to the left, closer to the brewery; Baatar jogged over, and scratched at her horns as she met the other three, who were all wearing their adventuring garb.

"Baatar! I see you deign us with your presence," Kanna said dryly. "I had thought we might suspend our adventuring for the day, such that you could get a proper sun's rest."

"Shut it," Baatar replied with a smile. "So? What'll be the plan, then?"

"Staelwyrn passed us by a few minutes ago - he said he had good and bad news," Xomni'to noted, frowning slightly. "Said he'd tell us once we were all there, though."

"Aye. He looked right pissed, 'e did," Momolk added.

"Well," Baatar said slowly, "best we be findin' out the trouble, I 'spose."

The Rising Loaves was, as usual during lunch time, packed with patrons; Baatar and the others had to wedge their way past the line of customers snaking out of the door. Oyuun, Edward and Idree were manning the coin-boxes, and waved at the group before returning to their work; Staelwyrn shouted and beckoned at the group from a table in the dining area.

"So," Baatar said, sitting down with the others at Staelwyrn's table, "how d'ye fare this sun, eh?"

"Eh, afternoon t'ye, Kanna, Baatar, Momolk, Xomni," Staelwyrn said sourly, scratching at his beard. "It'll be fine - ah, first, yer payment." He drew a large sack of gil from his tunic and placed it on the table. "Ah, I brought eight thousand gil wi' me - will that be fine? If ye wants more, I can be fetchin' more," Staelwyrn muttered sheepishly. "I...forgots to be bringin' more, and I spent a bit at the Bismarck, ehe."

"It'll be no trouble - two thousand gil'll be 'nuff fer what we did, I thinks," Momolk replied, standing up on her higher-chair and counting out the coins. "No worries."

"Aye, Kanna - ye want some've me coin? I's no need for't," Baatar asked.

"I - well - I shall not say no," Kanna said with a slow nod. "Perhaps a quarter? I am attempting to find an apartment of my own."

"Aye, ye can have...however much's a quarter 'a me share," Baatar agreed.

"So, that's the good news," Xomni'to continue as Momolk shoved the coins back in the bag. "What's the bad?"

"Ah, piss. So...me'n the folks, we got right plastered the night last," Staelwyrn explained, "an' it were...past midnight, methinks, when we was jus' windin' down. Then, outta fuckin' nowhere, these damned pirate-lookin' folks came swoopin' in from th'shadows, and they stole our damn tools!"

"All of them?" Kanna asked.

"Naw, they mades off with a crate or two - 's'not like we's got no tools or nothin'," Staelwyrn groused, "but those were worth a pretty gil, they were." He sighed, and took another swig of beer. "We was too drunk to be stoppin' the bastards, aye, but I done recognized the leader 'o the bunch - if ye needs a name, I gots it. Captain Petyr "Pigeon-toes" Hooper, that'll be the man's name. Hyuran, fair-skinned, black 'air - 'es a big, nasty scar what goes from 'neath 'is left eye, down-like, t'is mouth."

"Pigeontoes? The fuck kinda name's that?" Baatar snorted.

"Aye, it'll be 'cause 'e lost some've 'is toes - he were a fierce pirate, last I heard've 'im. Dunno why he's gone 'n stole me fuckin' farm-tools, though."

"Have you any idea where Captain Hooper may be? If he is indeed a Captain, and a...privateer, no less, then he must be known to the Maelstrom," Kanna offered.

"Well 'nuff, then - I'll be here fer a few more bells, 'least while I has some time off fer once. If ye finds a thing, come back and check if I'll be here - otherwise I'll be at th'farm, prolly."

"Very well. We shall return shortly, then," Kanna replied as the group got up, while Momolk scrambled down from her raised chair.

"Hold, eh? I'll be tossin' this sack'a gil'n the strongbox. Be back in a second," Momolk said, clutching Staelwyrn's payment like a swaddled babe as she jogged off into the rear of the brewery; she returned a few minutes later, grinning. "Right! Off we go!"

The group made their way over to the closest aetheryte station - the one outside the Fishermans' Guild - which lay about five minutes of walking away from the brewery; they teleported up to the Aftcastle, then walked across the bridge that led to Maelstrom Command. The long front desk was staffed by several Maelstrom personnel; Baatar vaguely recognized a few of them until she caught sight of R'ashaht Rhiki standing near the doorway to the offices.

"Oi! R'ashaht!" Baatar shouted as they neared the front desk.

"Who - oh, Baatarsaikhan!" R'ashaht said, black ears and tail twitching in surprise. "And the Molkohs - good afternoon! Not getting into trouble, I hope? And - ah, Miss Minamoto of the Bismarck, yes?"

"Yes - I am afraid I do not know you, ma'am," Kanna said, bowing deeply. "Kanna Minamoto, at your service."

"Ah, right - Lieutenant-Commander R'ashaht Rhiki. A pleasure to meet you, Kanna - I'm a fan of your raw-fish," the black-haired Miqo'te woman said with a curt nod. "So? What can I do for you four?"

"Hey, ye knows a fellow by th'name o' Cap'n Petyr Hooper?" Baatar asked.

"Pigeontoes? Yes, yes, I do," R'ashaht replied sourly. "He was the captain of a ship called the Seafang - a right bastard of a pirate, for sure."

"Ye says 'was' a captain," Momolk noted. "He not so these suns?"

"Not since three suns ago, no. Idiot kept on firin' at Lominsan ships, stealin' from vessels flyin' Eorzean colours," R'ashaht spat. "Arsehole prolly thought it'd be a fine, easy thing, breaking code, instead 'o troubling himself with finding an' fighting Garleans. He stopped in Limsa to dock three suns prior, and we took his ship, stripped him'n his crew of arms an' put his name on the blacklist. No shipwright or blacksmith in town'll sell to the man, that'll be certain - he and his mates all have a whorl-shaped crew-mark on their necks, aye."

"Odd. See, we just spoke with Master Staelwyrn, of the Summerford Farms," Xomni'to explained, "and he swears that Captain Hooper and his old crew stole a bunch of his farming tools the night last."

"I - what a queer thing to do," R'ashaht muttered. "Well, I know our scouts and the Yellowjackets have said they've seen Petyr's men skulking around Middle La Noscea, but we've no idea what they're doing. Does Staelwyrn want his tools back or summat?"

"Yeah, that'll be so," Baatar answered. "Thanks fer the help, R'ashaht - we'll go'n find the shites, if we've any luck."

"Well, stay safe, and keep an eye out," R'ashaht shouted as the group began walking back to the Aftcastle aethershard.

Once they returned to the brewery, they explained the situation to Staelwyrn; the old roegadyn simply sighed upon hearing the news.

"Well, it'll be fine, then, knowin' that the bastards are lurkin' 'round Middle La Noscea, but that don't help me none," he said sourly.

"That is what we are here for," Kanna reassured him. "We shall find your tools, and, gods willing, return them to you."

"Aye. I'll see t'it that yer compensated for yer troubles - 'specially if ye gots to be fightin' folks for'em." Staelwyrn sighed again, and slammed his head into the table with a loud thunk. "Piss. I'll prolly have me ano'er drink or so, then head back t'the farm - if ye finds the tools, bring'em back, a'right?"

"We'll do the thing. Come on! We's some pirates to be roughin' up, we do!" Baatar exclaimed as the group set out.

Like the sun before, the group left the city via the Zephyr Gate; once they were clear of the city limits and firmly in the greenery of Middle La Noscea, Momolk pulled her map of the area out and unrolled it as the others knelt to see it.

"So. We have been quite thoroughly through the area surrounding the Seasong Grotto, as well as all the path from Summerford through to La Thagran," Kanna said, tracing a finger from the farm at the far right of the map to the bottom right corner. "Perhaps we ought to start by checking the other side of the Agelyss River? That shall allow us to begin not far from the Seasong Grotto - and we can sweep the area."

"Sounds fine t'me," Baatar agreed. The others got to their feet while Momolk put the map back in her satchel, and the group set off towards river which lay just beyond the Summerford Farms and Seasong Grotto; in short order, they arrived at the east end of the river, where it dropped down to the waters around Limsa Lominsa, and the group began carefully searching the riverside for any tracks or signs of the pirates. The search, luckily, didn't take long; not far from the riverside opposite of the Seasong Grotto, Momolk managed to find a well-concealed tunnel beneath a large set of bushes; the group clustered around it as Baatar pulled the bushes aside. The tunnel lay at a steep, though certainly not-unmanageable angle; Baatar tested it with her foot, then nodded.

"I"ll go first, eh?" She began inching down the tunnel; once she'd made it about two dozen paces, she gestured for the others to follow. They walked as quietly as they could down the tunnel until, about a minute later, they arrived at a turn in the path; as they approached, the repeated thunk-thunk-thunk of a hammer striking metal began to echo up the tunnel.

"Forge?" Momolk whispered.

Baatar shrugged and peered around the corner of the bend; she whipped back a moment later. "Long tunnel," she hissed, "big cave at th'end. There'll be...a dozen or so o' pirates down there."

"They part of Hooper's crew?" Xomni'to asked.

"Couldn't see."

"Lemme," Momolk muttered. She clambered around Baatar's feet and fed some aether into her monocle. "Aye, that'll be them - they gots the crew mark, all've them. Dozen or so - looks to me likes they'll be smeltin' the bigger've Staelwyrn's tools to make axes an' such."

"Shite. Ye thinks they'll be plannin' somethin'?" Baatar said.

"I...yup. They're startin' on the last've their tools, I thinks," Momolk answered. "All but two've 'em 'ave their new axes - an' they look right pissed, they do. An' - ah, shite, that'll be a map've the docks on their table - I thinks...I thinks they'll be plannin' a raid to be getting their ship back or summat."

"If...if this is true, we should return to the Maelstrom at once," Kanna whispered.

"Aye," Xomni'to agreed.

"Right then." Baatar and the others began drawing in aether; she felt for the beacon of Limsa Lominsa and was about to begin the teleport when a glint from the front of the tunnel caught her eye; she shouted, throwing Xomni'to to the ground. A rusted dagger slammed into the cave wall where Xomni'to's stomach would have been; he yelped in surprise as the others stopped their teleports, and Baatar screamed in fury as she drew a blunderbuss, firing a cloud of lead shot into their assailant. "INTO THE CAVE! KANNA - WATCH THE BACK FER NOW!"

Baatar holstered her shot-gun, and drew her second while unslinging her axe; she was the first spotted by the dozen or so pirates sitting within the cave, and the one closest - a squat, bearded lalafell - drew his axe and made full speed towards her. With a crack-thoom Baatar's blunderbuss sent the man into the ground with a spray of blood, and she holstered her gun and held her axe in both hands.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YE?" yelled a black-haired man from the back of the cave.

"You Pigeontoes?" Baatar shouted back.

"Well, lassy, now that ye've killed a man've mine - two, I wager from that first shot," the man said, pulling a long dagger from his tunic, "I thinks there'll be no harm in sayin' so. Aye, I'll be Cap'n Petyr Pigeontoes Hooper - and you, miss, we's gonna have fun with that lil' tail'a yers, and yer scaly arse."

"Heh." Baatar spat on the ground, glancing back at Momolk and Xomni'to, who were both busy summoning their Carbuncles. "That so, ye limp-dick? Why don't ye come 'ere and try't?"

"Hold yer tongue, wench - if ye shut yer mouth and lay down all womanly-like right now, we'll leave ye bruised when we's done with ye - but livin', lass," Petyr snarled.

"Summoned," Xomni'to whispered, patting the cave wall just loudly enough for Baatar to hear. "Guns ready, too."

"Trapped the cave mouth. We're safe for now," Kanna added.

Baatar nodded slightly before smirking at Captain Hooper. "Aye, that so? Well, way I sees it - only a right, floppy dong of a man like yous has pride in a name like 'Pigeontoes' - NOW!"

Xomni'to stepped out into the cave opening and fired all six of his pistols, downing seven of the pirates thanks to a shot which pierced the skull of one man and tore through the neck of another. Baatar roared and charged forward, axe raised, while Momolk and Xomni'to - and their two Carbuncles - got to work firing precisely-aimed poison-spells at each pirate, leaving them howling and screeching in pain. Baatar took advantage of this and swung her axe at one of the pirates, burying it in his neck before lunging backwards, sending the pirate falling forward as he bled to death. Kanna charged in next, sword cutting furious strokes into the unprepared foe she faced; she parried attacks from multiple attackers before ducking an incoming blow and stabbing a man in the eye, drawing the blade out and slicing it across the neck of another; a blow came towards her and Kanna managed to escape with a graze upon her arm, lunging backwards and hissing in pain.

Baatar seethed.

She screamed a furious cry and charged forward, uppercutting the axe directly between the legs of the man who attacked Kanna; he howled from the poisons flooding through him, the unaspected aether ripping holes in his armour and the horrid tide of blood streaming from his nethers.

And in an instant, the group of four stood before Captain Hooper, his men dying on the floor as they succumbed to their wounds and their toxins.

"You bitch," Petyr spat, grabbing an axe from one of his fallen crew. "You'll PAY!"

Baatar simply screamed and charged at him; she parried three horizontal strikes before using the haft of her axe to batter the weapon out of Petyr's hands; she followed that with a metal-booted kick to his testicles, then lunged forward as he flinched, drew her shoulder-blade and shoved the knife into his throat. Petyr fell backwards onto his back, grasping at the blade, eyes frantic and wide, tears falling from his eyes as Baatar stepped forward, stomped on his head and tore the knife from his throat.

There was no noise for a moment, save for the gurgling gasps from the pirates, and Petry's desperate fumbling and twitching as he bled out on the floor.

"Well," Baatar said sourly, wiping the knife on Petyr's pants and sheathing it, "that coulda gone better. Hows the fuck we got ambushed?"

"We weren't careful - didn't watch our backs," Xomni'to growled, scowling at the bodies on the floor. "Bastards had a patrol out, and we didn't notice."

"Aye, an' if Baatar hadn't thrown y'on the ground, brother, ye'd have a hole in yer skull," Momolk spat. "That were too fuckin' close. Maybe we's ought to have our Protect-barriers up 'fore we go out, next round."

"Shite. Have to be more careful-like the next time," Baatar groused as she walked back over to Kanna - who was eyeing the bodies, and the other three in the group warily. "Yer arm alright? It'll be bleedin' a little."

"You killed...you killed three, four men, like that," Kanna said, eyes searching Baatar's face as Momolk brought up her Carbuncle to heal Kanna's wound.

"Aye - wot, ye thinks I'd be layin' down for'em?" Baatar replied, perplexed.

"No - I am not - you had every right to defend yourself. But...you do not seem troubled."

"By wot?" Baatar replied, returning to Petyr's corpse to search his pockets.

"You - these were no pests or the like," Kanna said, shaking her head. "Pirates, criminals or no - you slew men for the first time, and it does you no trouble?"

"Naww," Baatar answered, pulling a pair of gaudy rings from Petyr's fingers and spitting on his body. "Shite-stains like these - it'll be a service, it will, t'be killin' these fuckers."

"Aye," Momolk added, as she walked over to the forge and the partially-emptied crate of farming tools nearby. "Oi, lookit," Momolk said, climbing onto the small table by the forge. "They were plannin' to be stealin' their ship back!"

"Hmm. I do wonder, though, if they would have been successful," Xomni'to mused, reloading his pistols. "Personally, I doubt they'd be doing the thing - Maelstrom doesn't mess around, not with impounded ships."

"I - kami - gods! You three! You show nothing, no feeling, no concern?" Kanna said, her voice rising. "Look at you, Baatar - covered in the blood of a man you - you finished off on the ground, and you do not even flinch?"

"Wot the fuck y'on 'bout, Kanna? Aye, I didn't be flinchin' - I don't give a chocobo shite 'bout what happens to this sack'a dicks," Baatar replied, gesturing around the cavern. "Sod'em."

"Baatar, that is not normal," Kanna said gravely. "That is not normal for any of you!"

"I fail to see the issue," Xomni'to replied, crossing his arms. "We killed goblins yesterday, and you had no concerns about that."

"I - those were beastmen! These were people! Hyurs, lalafell, roegadyn, elezen - dead! Slain without a second thought or care."

"Didn't you be killin' a man, eh?" Momolk shot back, scowling. "Ye fuckin' sliced a man's throat fer stealin' yer blade - justified, aye, but we didn't be gettin' up yer arse 'bout it."

"Momolk, I was part of the Sekisegumi. I enforced the law, killed thieves, murderers, bandits," Kanna answered.

"Aye, like we done!" Baatar exclaimed cheerfully. "What'll be the problem, eh?"

"Baatarsaikhan of Kha, when I slew my first foe - my first dozen, nay, my first score of men," Kanna said in a near-whisper, "I nearly threw up each time. I had nightmares about the men I killed - the experience was terrible enough, Baatar, that I still remember those faces, the looks of those men as they died. Do you understand, Baatar?"

"Nope," Baatar answered, scratching her head with a blood-spattered gauntlet. "Ye lost me."

"I - please, I am being serious. This...the three of you...this is not okay," Kanna said after a long pause. "You should not allow the taking of life to come so easily for you - not of your fellow Spoken, at the very least. That way lies ruin. The path to those who seek death and blood for its own sake."

"Wot, like, you thinks I'll be killin' sods 'cause I's good at't?" Baatar scoffed. "Naw, Kanna! I's find me a pirate who threatens to be doin' rape or the like, I fuckin' kill 'im, no problem. Fuckit. Why's I give a shite 'bout any'a these arseholes, eh?"

"That is not my point, and you know it."

"Kanna, I think we do understand what you'll be saying," Xomni'to noted, "but frankly I don't think the three of us, well, particularly cared about these pirates. Perhaps, then, if we were fighting...some more upstanding folks. Soldiers, or mercenaries, or something. Perhaps, then, yes, you would be right to be worried about us."

"Aye. Lookit these shites," Momolk agreed, kicking one of the now-dead pirates in the head.

"I - I - fine. Fine. I suppose, then. Still, I am not...comfortable with your behaviours," Kanna muttered. "I shall return to the tunnel's front and remove my knife-trap, such that we may take our leave of the place."

"A'right - oi, Momolk, Xomni, watch where I goes - I"ll take the crate, aye?" Baatar asked, squatting down and grunting as she lifted the partially-empty crate of farming tools up.

"Heh, no trouble - let's be gettin' this shite t'Staelwyrn!" Momolk shouted as the group left the tunnel.

The walk from the side of the river back to Summerford Farms took about a half-bell; Staelwyrn saw them coming from the top of the spiral-hill, and met the group at the outskirts of the farm, eyes widening in shock at the long gash that ran up Kanna's sleeve and Baatar's blood-covered form.

"Gods, you - are you lot alright?" Staelwyrn asked, taking the crate from Baatar and handing it to one of the nearby farmhands.

"Aye, fine!" Baatar replied cheerfully. "Good Cap'n Hooper's no more - sod were plannin' t'be stealin' 'is ship back, an' usin' yer tools to be makin' axes for hisself and his mates."

"Pissant," Staelwyrn spat. "And ye killed the lot've 'em?"

"We did," Xomni'to answered, nodding. "Came a little close - they got the drop on us with a roving patrolman, but Baatar was quick enough to save me from a bullet to the gut."

"Well, that'll be no love lost twixt me 'n that right penis of a man, aye," Staelwyrn said happily. "Ye done a favour to me'n the Maelstrom, that'll be fer certain. 'Ere,' Staelwyrn said, beckoning for the adventurers to follow; he lead them back up to the farmhouse, motioned for them to wait outside and popped out not long after with a fat sack of coins. ""Ere, that'll be fifteen thousand gil, there."

"Oi, oi, ye don't need t'be emptyin' yer coffers for us," Baatar said, aghast. "Put that shite back!"

"Aye, me one true love'll be gil, but...that'll be a tad much, eh?" Momolk said.

"Naw, I insists - ye fights a buncha pirates to be fetchin' me fuckin' tools. That'll be a load'a shite - jus' be takin the thing, 'fore I thinks otherwise, ken?" Staelwyrn said.

"Then we shall," Kanna replied, bowing deeply. "Thank you, sir."

"Thanks is mine, Miss Kanna." Staelwyrn sighed, and shook his head. "Well, ye might as well be getting back to Limsa - I's no work for ye, 'less ye like huntin' pests, or diggin' through auroch shite fer fertilizer."

"I think we will take our leave, then," Xomni'to said, nodding slightly.

"A fine fuckin' day indeed," Baatar muttered as they made their way to the foot of the hill. "Shite. Why's I not do adventurin' before? Kill arseholes, make gil. Fuck me, I could be doin' this for a livin', I wager."

"'Cause yer a thick-skulled dimwit, tha's why," Momolk sniggered as Baatar rolled her eyes.

"Real fuckin' original, that one. Come on - we shoulds prolly be gettin' t'the Maelstrom, see if we can't be tellin' them what's happened, eh?"

Kanna said nothing as they began to draw aether to return to Limsa Lominsa.

The group of four reappeared in Limsa Lominsa moments later; they drew some attention as they teleported into the Aetheryte Plaza, but save for a few uneasy glances at Baatar's bloodstained armour nobody paid them much mind. A quick teleport up to the Aftcastle aetheryte station and a short walk brought them over to the Maelstrom Command building, and R'ashaht Rhiki waved at them as the group crossed the bridge leading to the reception area.

"Ho there," R'ashaht said, leaving the long, well-staffed reception desk; her ears, which poked out of slits cut in her officers' cap, twitched as she noticed Baatarsaikhan. "Well," she said, nodding, "I imagine you had yourselves a little run-in with Pigeontoes?"

"Captain - well, ex-Captain Petyr Hooper and his crew won't be troublin' the Maelstrom any more," Xomni'to noted with muted pride. "We found him and his crew in a small tunnel set into the side of the Agelyss - the Seafang's crewmen were smelting up Staelwyrn's tools into axes."

"Aye, an' they was plannin' on doin' a raid or summat," Baatar added, "so they could be stealin' back their ship." She dug Petyr's rings from a pouch on her belt and handed them over to R'ashaht; she examined them, nodded, then tucked them into her coat pocket. "Had to be killin' the lot've 'em."

"Got what he deserved," R'ashaht snorted. "That cave of theirs - was there anything else in it?"

"There were a simple forge setup, aye, an' a few tables. Lil' 'else besides," Momolk explained.

"Hmm. Perhaps the Maelstrom - or the Yellowjackets - could use it as a supply station or something." R'ashaht led the group over to one of the nearby waiting-tables; she pulled a map of Lower La Noscea out of her coat and unfurled it on the table, along with a graphite-stick. "Would one of you be able to mark where you found the cave?"

"Aye, I can be doin' so," Momolk said, climbing up onto one of the chairs. She pointed at a spot they'd been to earlier, and nodded. "Round there, that cave'll be. We had to be movin' some bushes t'open the tunnel entrance - hard to miss now, I wager."

"Thank you. I can't promise you'll be rewarded for any of this - but I'll see if I can't put in a word in my report," R'ashaht noted as she rolled the map back up. "You've done good - very good."

"Heh - a right proper buncha do-gooders, we'll be!" Baatar said happily. "Now won't that be a thing, eh, R'ashaht?"

"Don't let it get to your head," R'ashaht snorted. "At most this might get you out of the drunk tank once. Maybe twice."

"Oi, I's not been in there fer more than a year," Baatar replied, scowling.

"I know. Let's keep that up, please." R'ashaht smiled and gave the group a lazy salute. "I'll be back to work, then - keep safe, 'till sea swallows all."

"So," Baatar said, sighing contentedly as the group returned to the Aftcastle and sat down on one of the many benches in the plaza-park, "what'll we do now, eh? I've no desire t'be shovelin' shite or huntin' pests fer Staelwyrn."

"Could call it a day," Xomni'to offered.

"Ahh, yer right. No need t'be rushin', eh? We've a whole life've adventure jus' waitin' fer us." Baatar stretched and yawned slightly. "Hoo. Maybe a nap, eh?"

"We could be checkin' out stuff at th'guilds, too," Momolk noted. "Anyhows, Baatar, ye could be testin' up in the Marauders' Guild - you's been puttin' that off fer ages."

"Mmm. Maybe I'll pop'n, check t'see if I can't be schedulin' a test or summat," Baatar said, scratching at her scaly chin in thought. "Fightin' Wyrnzoen sounds a mite more interestin' than helpin' you two do...whatever you does with th'Arcanists, what with checkin' customs and the like." Baatar shrugged. "What 'bout you, Kanna?"

Kanna - who, up until this point, had been silently staring off at the sky - flinched slightly, then stared at Baatar for several seconds in silence.

"Uhhh...Kanna?" Baatar blinked, looked at her siblings - who returned curious expressions.

"Ah. My apologies," Kanna said distantly. "I shall...I believe I would like to take the day off. It has been some time since I have experienced combat, and I think a day of rest, relaxation and self-reflection will help me better myself in the days to come."

"A'right, then - so, we can be meetin' t'morrow, then, t'see what we can be doin'?" Baatar asked.

"That sounds acceptable to me. I shall take my leave, then." Kanna bowed deeply and set off at a brisk walk off towards the Mizzenmast Inn, whose entrance lay just to the side of the Drowning Wench.

Momolk and Baatar watched Kanna go with a mix of concern and confusion; both looked at one another, and Momolk shrugged.

"Shite," Momolk muttered, scratching her head. "She don't sound a'right t'me."

"Ye thinks the thing what with us bein' real good at killin' folks got t'her?" Baatar asked. "I thought she were just bein' quiet-like."

"Maybe it's a cultural thing," Xomni'to offered quietly. "She seems to have been raised in a place that...how to say, took its official laws seriously. Less codes, more legal sanction."

"Limsa's got laws, though," Baatar replied, frowning.

"Aye, but - well, I'm guessing - Limsa's brand of justice, maybe, is more rough than she's used to?" Xomni'to's ears twitched slightly, and he smiled slightly. "I can recall at least three, four dozen times - probably more - that we saw, ah, 'Lominsan justice' being dealt, before any of us reached sixteen years of age."

"I thinks it'll be a good system," Baatar said. "Ye don't steal, ye don't slave, ye don't rape nor kill or whatever. Easy t'remember, y'ask me." She stretched again, then pat her stomach. "Now, I'll be wantin' somethin' t'eat. You lot hungry?"

"Aye, I could be eatin' summat," Momolk said, nodding vigorously.

"Oi. Hows 'bout we take the day in Ul'dah, eh?" Baatar exclaimed. "Oho, I likes the sound'a that - let's be goin'!"

"And we're dropping off our weapons first," Xomni'to added, jerking his head at Baatar's holsters. "No guns."

"Naw, it's no open guns," Baatar corrected. "If I keeps one in me clothes, that'll be fine."

"Since when?" Xomnito asked. "When we went last week, the Brass Blades nearly had heart-stop, what with your shot-guns on frank display."

"You mistake Baatar's reasoning, brother," Momolk said, rolling her eyes. "I think she's meanin' t'say, if nobody catches her carryin' the sawn-off, then it'll be legal."

Baatar nodded eagerly. "Aye! Who's cause to be searchin' me robes, eh? I's a good woman, no trouble at all."

"Do I need to remind you about the time you chased a man through half of the city threatening to cut a second arsehole into him?"

"That were ages ago," Baatar said, waving Xomni'to off. "I's a changed woman, now. Baatarsaikhan, goodly adventurer, helper of farmers!"

"Bollocks, more like. Come on, let's be stashin' yer guns, then," Momolk said as the three returned to the aetheryte station.

-x-

"I'll see you bunch later, then," Idertuuya said, walking out of the Rising Loaves; she'd been working more or less non-stop at the brewery since five in the morning, and when Edward's sisters had shown up an hour ago at seven in the evening she was more than happy to let them take over. She took a leisurely pace, taking her time to enjoy the relaxing breeze as she returned to Terbish's clinic - and paused when she noticed that there was someone in Terbish's store, sitting with him at one of the counters.

"Oh, Idree, welcome back," Terbish said as Idertuuya walked through the door to the store.

"Good evening, Idertuuya," Kanna added, getting up from her stool at the main counter and bowing deeply.

"Oh! Kanna! What a surprise," Idertuuya said, pulling a stool up next to her; Terbish, who had already set out tea for himself and Kanna, pulled another teacup from beneath the counter and set it on the table.

"Please, allow me," Kanna offered; she took the teapot and poured for Idertuuya, who tapped her knuckles on the table in thanks.

"Well, I must say, I wasn't expecting you to be here this evening," Idertuuya said after draining her teacup. "The kids came by earlier in their casual clothes, and said they were taking the rest of the sun off in Ul'dah after slaying some rather foul pirates - and that you were taking the sun to, ah, self-reflect, or something?"

"Yes," Kanna replied, nodding. "I - I actually came here to discuss the events which transpired this morning."

"Mmm." Terbish nodded sagely, taking a sip of tea. "Kanna said she wanted you to be present to discuss the thing, Idree - so here we are."

"Well, I'm here," Idertuuya said with a small frown. "Is something the matter?"

"Matter? I - I am not sure, to be honest." Kanna paused, and stared into her cup. "Idertuuya, I observed that your children - all of them - carried themselves very well in combat against men today."

"Ahh, the children had boasted as such, but it is good to hear confirmation from a...less biased source," Idertuuya said with no small amount of pride. "What troubles you, then, if the fight went well?"

"I was surprised - all of them said that this was their first time slaying others in combat," Kanna said slowly, "and yet they showed no hesitation in their fighting or killing. Unflinching. Resolved."

"That...that troubles you?" Terbish said, scratching at his horns. "I'm afraid I don't follow, Kanna."

"It does not bother you? Xomni'to shot down seven men without so much as a single onze of hesitation. Momolk sent men to the ground with the agonies of poison and war-magic. And Baatarsaikhan finished a wounded man off with knife and boot." Kanna shook her head slowly. "Mind you, I understand that such things are commendable traits for soldiers, mercenaries and adventurers. But I find myself - perhaps - troubled? Yes, troubled, that your children, who have not known the business of blood like I have, found no fear or hesitation in the dealing of death."

Idertuuya and Terbish both looked at each other; Terbish shrugged, and Idertuuya sighed.

"I'm not quite sure what to say," Idertuuya replied after a few seconds' pause. "You...you approach the matter, as though it is unnatural for my children - Baatarsaikhan in particular - to be in tune with their - gods, I haven't used this word in many years - daichin süns?"

"Warrior spirit?" Kanna asked.

"The literal meaning of the word, yes," Terbish answered, "but it is more than one's martial prowess or desire to fight. It is...it is facing ten enemies as one and showing no hesitation. It is singing war-song when you slay your enemies. It is dying proudly when you are overwhelmed, knowing that you have given all for the Dusk Mother." The old man shook his head, a wry smile on his face. "It does not even necessarily apply to just fighting, though I am sure many of the old tribes upon the Steppe would...disagree with my interpretation of the term. Daichin süns for me is pulling a patient from the grip of death itself, spitting in the face of my enemy - disease, instead of soldiers, now."

"Aye. Terbish has the right of it," Idertuuya added, nodding vigorously. "I have always raised Baatar to have good warrior spirit - and though Xomni'to and Momolk may not be my first-children, I did my best to teach them the same, too. In times of crisis or threat - no hesitation. No pause. Action."

Kanna blinked several times, opened her mouth, shut it, paused again.

"The idea does not sit well with you," Idertuuya said a moment later.

"No, I, I understand the concept," Kanna replied. "The first two virtues of the samurai code - giri and yuuki. Righteousness of cause and the courage of heroism. I strive to possess such things, in life and in combat - but that is after many years in service to the Sekiseigumi, where it was taught to me, trained, drilled. I mean no insult to you, Idertuuya, but I cannot imagine that you raised your children as though they were to be enforcers of the law, or such."

"Well, no, I did not, but I won't lie and say I'm not happy to see my children have such virtues on display," Idertuuya replied. "I may not have drilled my children like soldiers, but I did my best to instill within them the values with which I was raised as a warrior of the Steppe. Even growing up, of all the children, it was Baatar, Xomni'to and Momolk who showed the most - if any - interest in continuing the Steppe-ways of war, and so I did my best to prepare them for the blood they would no doubt spill."

Kanna considered this for a long time; nearly two minutes passed before she replied. "I understand, I think. I still have a little trouble accepting it, but perhaps that is simply due to a difference in culture and values. I imagine that the Azim Steppe's legendary hardships birthed a much more...rugged set of values than the ones I was raised with."

"A fair point," Terbish said, smiling. "And correct, as far as I can see. I'd not spend too much worry about the way of these things. If Baatar or Xomni or Momo decide that killing men of foul persuasion is not enough? If their warrior spirit controls them, and not the other way around? Then yes, I would be concerned."

"But until then," Idertuuya concluded, "I think you need not worry about my children. Though it is nice to see that you've taken enough of a liking to them to carry such worries in the first place," Idertuuya said with a small chuckle.

"I...they are an interesting bunch. I can imagine far worse fates than travelling with them, wherever it is they end up going," Kanna said at last.