Shirou woke up early the next morning and got dressed after a quick bath, donning his new armor and strapping the pouch full of medicine to one side of his belt while his katana was strapped to the other. He then proceeded to move, bend and twist, testing his mobility with the new gear, finding that he was hampered a bit but not enough to cause too large a problem.

Satisfied that he was ready for the day he made his way to the main tavern area of the clan house, finding a few early risers sitting about and having breakfast. Making his way to the bar he sat down as Marsha approached, the woman raising her arms above her head as she stretched while yawning loudly, not seeming to notice or care about how the action displayed her prodigious bust. "Mornin', Shirou. What'll it be?"

"I could use some breakfast, please. Whatever you've got available." He said with a smile.

Marsha nodded in understanding and gave him a smile before making her way back to the kitchen, likely to let the cook, her wife Landri, know what to prepare.

The door had just closed behind her when Kaleen walked into the clan house, glancing around nervously before catching sight of Shirou and scampering over to him, taking a seat on the stool beside him. "G-good morning." She said shyly as she sat down, setting the stereotypical wooden staff that was her magical focus against the bar counter.

"Good morning, Kaleen." He said with a smile. "Are you ready for your first job today?"

The blonde's head bobbed an affirmative. "Yes. I just hope that I won't be a burden."

"I'm sure you won't be." Shirou said kindly as Marsha returned from the kitchen, carrying a plate with a few local meat pastries, some sliced fruits he wasn't entirely familiar with yet, and some dodo eggs. She set it in front of Shirou before quickly pouring him a cup of a strong, rich tea.

Once that was done she turned her attention to the young summoner. "And what'll you be having?"

Kaleen glanced over at his plate, licking her lips. "The same thing he's having, please? It looks really good."

"No problem." Marsha said with a smile on her lips as she went back into the kitchen.

Shirou picked up one of the pleasantly warm pastries and took a bite, letting out a satisfied hum as the spicy meat and vegetables hit his tongue. It was his first time eating one though he'd seen them before, and he already knew that he was going to be asking for the recipe. It was just a pity that it probably used ingredients that didn't exist back home, though he might be able to find substitutes with some experimentation.

Glancing to the side he found Kaleen staring at him, a bit of drool trailing down her chin, apparently quite hungry. He smiled slightly, amused, before speaking. "Do you know what our job is going to be?"

The hume girl was snapped out of her hunger induced trance and quickly glanced away with red cheeks as she wiped her chin. "Ah, no, I don't. Montblanc didn't tell me. I think he was still deciding what it would be yesterday. He wants it to be something simple to get our feet wet, I think."

Shirou nodded thoughtfully. It made sense. Kaleen, as far as he could tell, had never been in a fight, even if she'd managed to contract an eidolon. Neither had he, for that matter. Sure, he'd sparred with Taiga and trained his archery and swordplay extensively, but that was different from being in a real fight to the death.

As Marsha returned with Kaleen's food, the girl ravenously digging in, Shirou allowed a small frown to appear on his face.

If there was one thing he was conflicted about when it came to working for the clan it was the fact that he would likely be forced into situations where he would be forced to either kill or be killed. Yes, there were many monsters and dangerous beasts that inhabited this world, but there were also bandits, hostile beast tribes and soldiers of the Palamecian, Gestahlian and Garlean Empires, none of whom were likely to hesitate in trying to kill him or any innocents they came across.

He wanted to be an Ally of Justice who saved everyone, so the idea of being forced to kill another sapient being…

Unfortunately this was a typical fantasy world from an anime in some cases, so talking it out wouldn't likely be an option very often. Though that wouldn't stop him from trying.

He let out a sigh after he finished swallowing his current mouthful of fruit and set such thoughts aside for whenever they were necessary. Kiritsugu had told him he'd only ever really know how he'd react when the situation presented itself, after all.

His attention was drawn when Montblanc approached the bar, the moogle letting out a yawn as he climbed up onto his customary stool. Marsha was already ready for him, passing him some strong black coffee with a couple of spoonfuls of sugar, which the clan head began to drink immediately. Within a few moments he appeared much more alert and aware, his dark eyes fixing themselves on Shirou and Kaleen, who was finishing off her food. "Good morning, you two, kupo."

"Good morning, Montblanc." Shirou said, Kaleen taking a big swallow before echoing him with a blush on her cheeks.

"I trust you're ready for your first job?" Montblanc asked as he took another sip of his coffee.

Shirou nodded as he pushed away his empty plate, which was promptly picked up by Marsha, as Kaleen spoke. "Yes sir, whatever you need."

Montblanc nodded with satisfaction as he pulled a paper out of his pocket and handed it to Shirou. "It's a relatively simple job for a merchant by the name of Lolopolo, kupo. He received a shipment of goods yesterday and realized that a couple of crates were missing. It took some grilling of the guards before they admitted that they had an accident with the cart and weren't as diligent in making sure everything that had fallen off was recovered as they should have been, kupo. Lolopolo was not happy, so he immediately fired the lot of them. Since this means he's currently in need of new caravan guards and thus doesn't have any to send to look for the missing goods, he's hired us to send someone out to get them, kupo." He handed the paper to Shirou who looked it over with Kaleen peering over his shoulder, finding it to be a list of the missing goods, mainly various types of spices and herbs. Valuable ones, from what Shirou could tell. He wasn't surprised the merchant was angry. "The approximate place they were lost was along the road about a malm and a half away from Rabanastre's eastern gate. Should be a simple job, with wolves being the worst you're likely to face, and even then it's unlikely so close to one of the main roads, kupo."

Shirou nodded thoughtfully. Simple, low chance of combat, and they'd be helping someone get their lost property back. Seemed like a perfect first job for him and Kaleen to embark on. "Sounds good." He finished off his tea and got off his stool before turning to the summoner. "Are you ready? I'd rather get moving before the sun gets too high and hot."

The blonde girl nodded as she slipped off her own seat. "Y-yessir."

Shirou smiled at her before turning to Montblanc. "Should we bring the goods back here or take them directly to the client?"

"The client would be best, kupo." Montblanc said, appearing pleased Shirou had bothered to ask. "Be safe, you two."

The two teens nodded before turning to leave the clan house, each preparing themselves for their milk run of a first job.

Shirou shaded his eyes as he glanced back toward Rabanastre after some time walking, trying to estimate how far he and his companion had gone. The royal city was a beautiful sight from this distance, its domed buildings and great palace reminding him of pictures he'd seen of old Constantinople and the like, except grander and more ornate as befitting what he considered a high fantasy world.

He turned back to Kaleen to find her panting between sips from a canteen, her face sweaty and red. She'd had a tougher time than he had on this trip, being less athletic than him due to her focus on her magical studies over physical conditioning.

"You okay?" He asked as the younger teen clipped her canteen back to her side and leaned on her staff.

She nodded as she took a deep breath. "Yes, sorry. I'm just not used to so much exercise." She frowned and looked down at herself. "Maybe I should start running or something." She muttered.

Shirou smiled at her. "It's alright. At least now you know it's something you need to work on." He looked back towards Rabanastre. "I think we're in about the area that Montblanc said the crates would be…"

Kaleen straightened up and glanced back at the city as well, obviously calculating the distance. "I think so…" She said as she glanced around. "He said they were lost yesterday, so they probably haven't been buried by sand yet. It shouldn't be difficult to find them at the moment."

Shirou nodded in agreement as he shaded his eyes once more, searching the desert around them. "Hopefully you're right. You search this side of the road, and I'll take the other side. We'll search the area four yalms out from the edge of the road, and then begin making our way along the road away from the city, searching the same distance. If we don't find anything within half a malm from here we'll double back and start searching in the direction of the city. Does that sound good to you?"

Kaleen nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. I think it'll be an excellent way of searching, and it'll keep us within hearing distance of each other in case we find the crates or run into trouble."

Shirou nodded before glancing up at the sky. "It's about two hours from noon. Let's work till then and if we haven't had any luck we'll stop to eat some of the rations we brought before continuing."

When Kaleen nodded again the two separated and began to work, searching their designated areas thoroughly. Shirou used the scabbard of his sword to prod the sand in search of anything buried, Kaleen spotting him doing so after a short period of work and mimicking him with her staff.

They worked diligently for the next hour as the sun rose and the day got hotter without finding anything noteworthy. It was as Shirou was taking a sip of his canteen that he heard Kaleen call for thim, prompting him to rush over to her location.

"What is it?" He asked as he approached her, finding her crouched and studying the sand. Then he saw what had caught her attention.

A multitude of small, rodent-like footprints made a somewhat straight trail away from some squarish indentations in the sand. It made what happened pretty clear.

"I think the crates were here, but something came and took them." Kaleen confirmed his thoughts. She looked up at him, face scrunched up in confusion. "Why, though?"

Shirou pulled the list of goods in the crates out of his pocket and looked it over once again to confirm. "The crates mainly held spices and herbs." He considered that. "Maybe something was attracted to their scent and decided to take them."

Kaleen's head tilted to the side as she considered that before nodding slowly. "I guess that makes sense." She stood up and wiped away the sand that had gotten on her clothing. "We should go after them before something happens to the goods, then. I don't think the client will be happy if something happens to his things."

Shirou nodded and began following the tracks. Thankfully they appeared to be recent, and there hadn't been enough wind to blow them away yet, so it wasn't hard to follow them. The duo walked for another forty minutes or so before finding themselves looking into a small canyon hidden from view by the sands. Inside they could see a large group of small rodent-like bipeds in leather clothing that were rushing about, in and out of caves that made up their warren.

"Qiqirn?" Kaleen exclaimed softly, somewhat surprised. "Usually they work as traders or accountants. What are they doing, hiding here?"

Shirou considered that. He had seen qiqirn in Rabanastre. They weren't as numerous as some of the other races, and tended to stick to the market districts, but as far as he could tell from his limited exposure they tended to be relatively sociable. Unfortunately he could only think of one explanation based on what little he knew about how things tended to work out in Ivalice. "Maybe they're a bandit tribe?"

Kaleen pursed her lips before nodding slowly. "It makes sense. Usually qiqirn that aren't merchants of some kind gravitate to banditry, from what I know. They can be a real nuisance, I've heard."

They studied the qiqirn base for a bit before Shirou decided on a plan. "Alright, I'm going to go down to talk to them and see if we can resolve this peacefully. If they become hostile then take them down non-lethally if you can. I'd rather we didn't kill anybody if we can help it."

From the slightly nauseous look on Kaleen's face at the thought he didn't think she was likely to go for the kill any more than he was, but it was likely best to make things clear.

Getting up from where he'd been crouched to observe the qiqirn Shirou slowly made his way towards the small canyon, keeping his hands away from his weapon and making sure to be as unthreatening as possible. When the qiqirn spotted him there were calls of alarm as dozens of qiqirn flooded out to confront him, all of them with hands on their small weapons.

"What you want, hume?" The qiqirn in the lead asked as threatening as possible despite its squeaky voice and difficulty with Ivalice's common tongue.

Shirou let his hands rise to show he wasn't a threat. "I was hired by a merchant that lost a couple of crates near the road, and I followed the trail here."

The lead qiqirn turned angrily to one of his subordinates and smacked him upside the head. "I tell you brush away trail!" He yelled in common before dissolving into a tirade of angry sounding squeaks, the individual he was berating cowering and offering apologetic squeaks in return.

Shirou let this go on for a minute or so before clearing his throat, drawing the leader's attention back to him. Said leader gave his cowed subordinate a final, ominous sounding squeak before turning back to Shirou. "We find crates abandoned, crates ours fairly."

Shirou considered that. It was true that, since the crates had been abandoned for at least a day out in the desert, the qiqirn were completely within their rights to salvage them. He doubted the client would see it that way, however. "I don't suppose there's any way I could trade you back for them so I can get them back to their original owner?"

The leader considered that. "Crates valuable." He said. "Would need many good things to make worth it."

Shirou wasn't surprised they were already aware of what the crates' contents were worth. He didn't think they were unintelligent or unaware of the value of goods if the qiqirn people were often merchants or accountants. "Maybe there's something I can do in trade?"

One of the qiqirn near the back began squeaking urgently at that, the leader appearing to consider that carefully before speaking to Shirou once whatever was being said was conveyed. "Girl with you, healer?"

Shirou jerked slightly in surprise that they were aware of Kaleen, but then again, he supposed that it was natural to assume he had backup, and if their eyesight was keen enough… "Summoner." He said, motioning for Kaleen to approach, since she'd already been spotted. The girl moved out from behind the rocks she'd been observing from and slowly approached, staff held in somewhat shaky hands. "But I have some healing potions on me if necessary."

The qiqirn considered that before turning and motioning for them to follow, his fellows making way for them but still watching warily, hands on their weapons. "We use caves as base." The qiqirn leader began explaining while they walked. "But part of caves bad. Evil lives in dark parts." He said grimly as he led them into a specific cave where another of the rodent-like beastmen was laying on a sleeping roll, obviously afflicted by something even to someone as unfamiliar with the race as Shirou was, another qiqirn tending to the ill one glancing up warily as the two humes entered. "Kokooko too curious, go into bad place. Crawl out, half alive. Not recovering. Die soon if not healed." He said as he let Kaleen move forward to check on ailing qiqirn.

"I can try a healing spell I know." Kaleen said. "I can't promise it will work, though."

Shirou blinked. "I thought you were a Summoner."

Kaleen nodded. "Most Summoners learn some basic attack and healing spells for self-defence and such. We don't always have access to an eidolon appropriate to a situation, after all." With that she focused on her patient, aiming her staff at him and murmuring an incantation Shirou didn't catch before declaring the spell's name in a louder tone. "Physick!"

At her command a light enveloped the qiqirn and spread throughout his body. They waited to see if there was any change, but after a few moments where nothing happened qiqirn attending to Kokooko checked his vitals before shaking their head.

The qiqirn leader let out a breath. "Not work."

Kaleen frowned as she stepped back. "It doesn't seem to be a physical malady…"

Shriou studied the situation before turning to the qiqirn leader. "Where did Kokooko go that caused this?"

The leader turned and considered Shirou, whiskers twitching. "Adventurer sure? Might not survive. Might end up worse than Kokooko."

Shirou nodded. "If nothing else, whatever caused this is too dangerous to be left alone, especially this close to the city."

The qiqirn considered him for a few moments before nodding sharply. "Hero type. Foolish. But brave. No blame us if die or worse."

"Of course not." Shirou agreed easily, beginning to follow as their guide led him to the back of the caves.

Kaleen hurried after them, moving close to him. "Shirou, are you sure? We could go back to Rabanastre and tell Montblanc. He could send someone more experienced."

"That's time that Kokooko doesn't have." Shirou told her seriously. "Not to mention we don't even know what we're dealing with. We can't exactly go to Montblanc with a vague description of 'something bad'." He smiled at her reassuringly. "I'll go in alone while you hang back and watch. If something happens to me you can at least go back to Montblanc and tell him what it is so he can mount an appropriate response." He addressed the qiqirn leading them. "Is that alright with you?"

The rodent-like beastman turned his head to consider the boy before nodding. "We let Summoner go if Summoner promise only bring back other adventurers to deal with bad thing and not attack qiqirn."

"I promise." Kaleen said quickly even as she gave Shirou an unhappy look at his plan.

Soon enough they reached a dark section of the caves, only a few openings in the ceiling letting in any natural light. Ahead of them was an opening in the wall from which all that was visible was an oppressive darkness that seemed to chill their souls, warning signs painted on the walls around the opening in what Shirou assumed was the qiqirn tongue.

The qiqirn lit a mining lamp and handed it to Shirou. "My name Totonoo. I thank you for doing this, even if still foolish." The now named Totonoo said seriously.

Shirou nodded as he took the lamp. "I'm Shirou." He said before turning towards the wall of darkness that the light of his lamp could only barely penetrate. He took a deep breath before stepping forward, Kaleen and Totonoo watching him as he made his way in.

Shirou didn't know for how long he walked through the dark, twisting cave, lantern in hand. It could have been less than a minute, it could have been an hour. Something in the darkness was fogging his senses, though he could smell a foulness in the air he couldn't quite describe, the metaphysical odor growing stronger the longer he walked.

He was surprised when, after rounding another bend in the cave, he spotted a faint glow coming from somewhere up ahead. The violet hued light was pulsing softly from what he could tell over the light of his lantern.

He stopped for a moment, considering his next course of action carefully, before drawing his sword, getting ready in case of an attack. Then he carefully made his way forward, blade at the ready.

Rounding one last bend he found the source of the light, stopping in his tracks as he took in what he was seeing, the light bright enough now that he could see the entirety of the cavern chamber, which was about the size of Clan Centurio's base of operations.

The chamber was full of what appeared to be the remains of some ancient temple, much of it ruined and crumbling. Parts of the ruins seemed to be extending from within the walls. Shirou was no archeologist or geologist, but that seemed to him to imply that the ruins were here before the cave formed around them.

However, what caught most of his attention was the source of the violet light. Against the far wall, rising from the cave floor and into the ceiling, was a mass of violet crystal, a twisting, almost flowing pillar a third the width of the room. It glowed softly, radiating power to Shirou's mystic senses. It was beautiful.

Or it would be, but that same foulness he'd smelled before was almost overwhelming here, emanating from the mass. Shirou was new to Gaia, not knowing some of the basics even children were aware of, but he instinctively knew that there was something wrong with that crystal. It was corrupted, twisted.

Of course, it might be a consequence of the mummified corpse partly buried in the mass, as though the crystal had formed around it, holding it off the ground with the legs buried in its prison and tendrils of the violet substance holding its arms up and to the sides, reminding Shirou of a depiction of a crucifixion. Except he doubted whoever this had been was any kind of martyr.

He slowly approached the crystal and the corpse it held, staring at the mummy's face, its head tilted to the side and supported by the crystal binding its right arm, empty eye sockets gazing in his direction, its jaw hanging partly open.

Honestly, it was such a classic setup that Shirou wasn't the least bit surprised when a light flickered to life in the corpse's eyes once he was halfway into the room, the flickering, ominously cold pinpricks seeming to pierce into his soul.

"I lys wafd ieeraitmyw za aooyr uzwydo za zmy wmivasyv cyyeyr ao zmy ikhww." A chilling voice echoing with malevolence said, the words not so much being registered by his ears so much as his mind. Then the crystal began to pulse like a heartbeat, and Shirou gasped as he felt something foul try to sink icy talons into his soul, clawing and scrabbling to claim it for its own.

Except it apparently couldn't, as after a few seconds the sensation stopped as the presence pulled back, radiating rage.

"Oly ao zmy kdiwemypafw afzwuvyrw wmy wfppalyv!" It screamed, and Shirou prepared himself after recovering from the assault, setting his lantern down and gripping his sword with both hands, ready for an attack.

Shadows given almost physical form began to stream from the corpse, gathering in the air in front of it, forming a somewhat humanoid figure of indistinct features but for the flames that took place for eyes, and the streams of violet energy that flowed along it like veins.

"Pyruwm, oiuzmdyww ulzyrdaeyr! tiulz zmuw dilv la pary!" The ghost screeched as it moved to attack the redhead.

Shirou highly doubted that just swinging his steel would do anything to this enemy, so he dodged the thing's first swipe as he focused on some of the basic tricks he'd learned while with Clan Centurio.

Shirou hadn't been busy only performing repairs and running errands for Montblanc during his time in Ivalice. One of the clan's Samurai had decided to teach him a few tricks once he found out that Shirou was trained in the use of a katana. It hadn't been much, but one of the very basics should help here, and that was the simple ability to imbue energy into his weapon to add to its power.

It was different from Shirou's Reinforcement as it wasn't so much boosting the sword's physical attributes as sheathing it in his power to add various effects.

Such as the ability to damage the intangible.

His sword glowing slightly, Shirou swung at his enemy, hitting it in what passed for an arm, making it recoil backwards, likely surprised.

Unfortunately Shirou hadn't had much of a chance to practice this technique, so the damage he could cause the ghost wasn't great, but he'd hopefully be able to inflict a death of a thousand cuts.

The ghost attacked again, but acted more warily now that it knew Shirou could hurt it. He dodged its swipe and retaliated, the ghost flinching again, though not as much as before. Then it began to claw and swing at him with a speed born of not having physical limitations, forcing Shirou on the defensive, though he still managed to get a few attacks of his own in.

Unfortunately he hadn't yet gotten the hang of using this skill with his sword and using Reinforcement on himself at the same time, but as far as he could tell his current physical attributes should be enough.

After a couple of minutes of this the ghost apparently had enough. With a howl like the wailing of the damned it teleported to the other end of the room and raised its arms, gathering a mass of dark magic that no doubt spelled bad things for Shirou.

The redhead knew better than to remain in place to take his enemy's attack, but just as he was about to move it let out another shriek, this one imbued with power, and Shirou felt himself freeze in place. It was only for a second, his body coming back under control almost immediately, but it was enough for the ghost to launch its attack, which streaked towards him before he could muster the ability to dodge, much less apply Reinforcement to do so, prompting him to brace for a very unpleasant experience.

"Light Upon this Land, Guardian of Glimmering Ruby!" Came Kaleen's voice suddenly from the entrance to the cavern. "Bestow Thy Radiance, Carbuncle!"

There was a flash of emerald light, and suddenly a foxlike creature with bluish-green fur, a long, fluffy tail, and long ears with a red gem embedded in its forehead appeared before Shirou, glaring at the ghost as it stood in a defensive stance. The redhead's first thought was that if this was an anime character it would be the type every girl would have some sort of merchandise of. Then the ruby in the eidolon's forehead flashed, and a barrier appeared in front of it and Shirou, stopping the ghost's attack cold, the shadowy energy unraveling and disappearing.

The ghost let out a screech of frustration at the eidolon's interference as Kaleen stepped into the cave, a lamp of her own in hand and her staff held at the ready. She was shaking slightly, but her eyes were narrowed, focused on the enemy. Setting her lamp down she took hold of her staff with both hands before speaking. "Me and Carbuncle will hold that thing off, Shirou! You deal with its source!"

The ghost heard the blonde hume's words and let out another screech as it rushed her, obviously intending to kill her first in order to get rid of the eidolon. Carbuncle darted to its summoner's side with a yip, conjuring another barrier to stop the thing in its tracks, making it let out another scream of frustration.

Shirou wasn't stupid enough to waste time arguing in this sort of situation. While Kaleen held the ghost's attention he ran for the lantern he'd set down and picked it up before quickly dashing towards the mass of crystal. With a strong overhead swing he brought the lantern down, smashing it onto the corpse, the oil raining out of it and igniting as it landed on the ghost's source. He stepped back as the dry, mummified flesh caught light instantly, barely avoiding being burned as the flames changed from a normal orangish red to bright, ethereal white.

The ghost had been futilely trying to get Kaleen, knowing it had to get rid of Carbuncle or else it wouldn't be able to do anything to either hume, but the eidolon kept it at bay with ease and prevented it from switching targets to Shirou as the blonde Summoner launched her Ruin spell at it, doing more damage than Shirou'd been able to during his entire time fighting the thing due to using magic against a spiritual entity.

The ghost jerked in mid swing with another soul chilling screech when its remains caught light, whirling about to face Shirou, who was still watching the fire burn. Its form began to unravel as the flames consumed more and more of the bones it was bound to. "Tmuw uw laz zmy ylv, ofzwuvyr. Yaf vory pircyv, vorv sy isicyl." It said, this time ominously calm as it began to fade, no longer attacking, apparently recognizing the futility of it.

Shirou had turned to look at it as it spoke, and though he didn't understand the words he somehow knew that they were a promise of things to come. "I'll be ready." He said firmly in response, gripping his sword tightly.

With that the entity unraveled completely, dispersing into a cloud of smoke that soon disappeared.

This took longer than I wanted from the start of writing to the finish, but thankfully it didn't take me all month.

I hope you all enjoyed it. I obviously couldn't make Shirou's first job simple, though I amused myself by making the initial description a classic RPG/MMO sidequest.

I wavered between making Kaleen's first summon Carbuncle or a more offense oriented one. Despite what some think I'm not basing the Jobs or combat systems entirely on FFXIV. Some things from other games will be making themselves known, including jobs that haven't been seen in that game yet, such as jobs from Tactics and WotV. So Carbuncle being Kaleen's first summon wasn't guaranteed. In the end I decided on it more because it fit the personality I gave her than anything else.

Believe it or not I only started playing FFXIV within the last month, so I truly didn't have it in mind all that much when coming up with this story. Though it has begun to influence it ever since, obviously.

The language the ghost was speaking is real, if fantasy based, ie Klingon. I used Translate dot com to get it, so in order to avoid spoilers for those that don't want them, go there and see what it was saying for yourselves. Just keep in mind to include the punctuation. The translation of this particular language gets wonky without it, saying something completely different than what I meant when I was double checking till I figured out what was happening.

I originally tried a couple of D&D languages, namely Abyssal and Infernal, but the translators I found for them were not the best, giving me different translations when I reversed them to double check, and in the end I decided that a more complete language like Klingon would work best, since it still gave me the harsh, alien feel I was looking for while being more fleshed out. That and it was easier to find a reputable translator that included it.

Alright then, I don't think there's anything further to discuss, so I'll go ahead and take this opportunity to give the reminder that you all can have a say in what I write by donating to my Pat A Ron at dotcom /athanmortis. I put a poll up each month for what should be updated next, and each dollar donated equals one vote in the poll. Don't worry if what you voted for doesn't win that month, however. Votes accumulate month after month till that thing eventually wins, at which points that specific story has its votes reset to zero. The current poll will run till December 7th. Again, that is Pat A Ron dotcom /athanmortis.

Thanks for reading and sticking with me so far. Till next time!

Update: I ended up changing the language from Klingon to Infernal, but I'm still not sure about it. Unfortunately finding a good translator for a fictional language is difficult, not to mention avoiding the usual translation gaffes. That said, I don't want to post the actual translations here due to spoilers, so I'll leave them be for now.