[Civilizations intensifies]
I hope you like La-HEE, because where we're going there is only La-HEE.
Otamatone instrument for Bard when?
Underneath the Trees' Shade
Back in my day, the forest of Rak'tika had already been a place where man tread carefully, where nature ruled and he was barely tolerated on the best of days.
But it was also a place of untold secrets from a past age and those were sometimes even more enticing than any promise of tomorrow.
Today, only those who have decided to worship the Dark walk amongst these trees. As do those bound by duty.
What do I mean? Well, you'll find out soon enough, I'm sure.
Unlike Il Mheg, where the fog had shrouded everything, S'eni could clearly see the sky shift from a beautiful blue into the glaring white of the Light the closer they got to their next destination, and by the time they arrived in the Rak'tika Greatwoods it was so bright that even the dense canopy above their heads barely managed to shield them from it.
Yet despite that, the sight of this arboreal landscape, reaching out like defiant hands towards the very thing that plagued this world, instilled her with a sense of awe and made her wonder if somewhere, deep within this domain of untamed wilderness, there were trees that could even rival those gargantuan ones in the Black Shroud.
But even that seemed to be of little consequence to the burning eagerness deep inside of her.
She was here. Y'shtola was here.
Now she only needed to find her.
"We have arrived," Urianger said as they came to a stop. "Vast though these woods may be, they are, by and large, uninhabitable. Not so the swamps of Citia, however, whose sparse foliage permitted man a foothold."
Almost as soon as he had finished his little explanation, the sound of footsteps began to approach them, and she didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. She had only heard that almost lackadaisical footfall once, but it had already burned itself into her memory.
"Emet-Selch," she greeted him, but he paid her little mind as he walked past them all to stop a few steps up ahead, opening his arms wide.
"'No lands must remain beyond our grasp. Go forth. Conquer. Rule!'" he chuckled. "Forgive me. A sudden pang of nostalgia for those early days. Exploring virgin territories, subjugating primitive people. All for the glory of Garlemald!"
"If you've brought your ivory standard, I'll be happy to tell you where to stick it," Thancred replied in a dry tone.
S'eni could almost hear the Ascian's eyes roll. "Can't we just take a moment to enjoy the view together?" he asked while turning around. "Or would you rather that I keep spying on you from the shadows? More of this and I might actually regret my show of good faith."
His tone alone told her he wasn't taking Thancred seriously in the slightest.
"If..." Minfilia then said. "If you really want to stay, then at least help us fight."
They all turned to look at her in surprise, even Emet-Selch seemed to be taken aback by that notion for all of a second before an amused smile crossed his features.
"Mmh...no." He gave a lazy shrug. "I'm an observer, nothing more. And remember, we Ascians are tied to the Dark. Even as shaded as we are here, I can still feel the Light's presence all too keenly. To accompany you is taxing enough, to fight, out of the question."
"So...you're practically useless is what you're saying," S'eni commented.
"Yes..." Another, now very much open eyeroll. "You might say so."
"Alright." She looked at the others. "He tries something funny, I'll give him a spanking so harsh even his spare body on the Source will feel it."
Thancred uncrossed his arms, obviously displeased, but he still nodded. "Fine, I'll suffer your company, if I have to, but not your commentary."
The Ascian bowed, and they were on their way once more.
"If he never opened his mouth again, it would be too soon," Thancred muttered only a few minutes into their march, making S'eni chuckle.
"Ascians sure love to talk, don't they? Just try to not let him get under your skin."
His eyes narrowed. "Hm. Easier said than done."
Watching him move towards Urianger, S'eni frowned. The time he had spent as Lahabrea's host still plagued him it seemed. She then looked towards their Emet-Selch, walking just a few steps away from her and glancing around with a look of absolute boredom on his face. It didn't take long for him to notice her staring.
"What is it?" he asked. "Do you expect me to entertain you with friendly banter now?"
Her first instinct was to tell him off, but she stopped herself from doing so. She never really had the opportunity to just talk with an Ascian before. Usually when she had a run-in with them in the past it was either manipulation upon manipulation or just open hostilities, and while she couldn't discount Emet-Selch lying, she also felt that she should make use of the opportunity.
Besides, he was the one that offered them cooperation, and that involved talking. "There is actually something I'd like to know."
A sigh. "Oh, very well. Consider it my latest act of good faith. So what is it I may enlighten you with?"
"Why pick this form here on the First?" she asked, pointing at the center of her forehead. "You're kind of standing out with that."
"Well, well, what a curious question. Mortal flesh is nothing more than a vessel in which we Ascians transfer our souls, moulding it as fits the occasion. Or not, if we desire. Be it a year or a millennium, I prefer to retain the same form until my duty is done. So after arriving here, I fashioned some hapless body into the man you see before you," he explained.
"That...sounds gruesome." Her face contorted in mild disgust.
"But as your friend over there can attest, there are those of us who forgo such alterations. Ah, Lahabrea, always the rash one. Jumping from vessel to vessel, never heeding the toll it took on him."
"Elidibus seems to be good at that as well, seeing how he's currently occupying your great-grandson's corpse," she said.
"Hm." was all he deigned to reply to that, effectively ending the conversation, but it still gave her a bit to think about. So changing hosts was taking a toll on them?
That line of thought quickly vanished though, as a feeling of deja vu made her stop in her tracks. She knew this area...had seen it in her vision. This was where Y'shtola had walked. She was sure of it.
Shtola… resuming her walk, she quickly caught up to the others again and fell into step next to Urianger.
"So where exactly are we headed?" He had told her that she was with a group called Night's Blessed, those that worshipped the Dark that had come here to seek sanctuary, but he didn't really say where exactly they were located. What he did mention though was that, to follow this group's customs, had taken a different name.
Matoya.
It was almost like she demanded to be ribbed.
"Two years past, a swarm of Sin Eaters did lay waste unto the Blessed's largest settlement, killing a great many of their priests in so doing. Though some few did survive, they knew not how to go on. Wayward souls in want of a guiding hand. For a mercy, Y'shtola hath provided that which they sorely needed," he told her. "They have since endeavoured to restore their home, and thither shall we bend our steps, to Fort Gohn."
But as they arrived at said Fort Gohn, or rather the burned down ruins of what once clearly used to be it, there were no signs of said endeavour.
"Well, where's this friend of yours we've come to meet?" Emet-Selch quipped.
Minfilia frowned. "There's no one here..."
"Hmm. Mayhap Y'shtola sought shelter elsewhere."
Looking around, her eyes came to rest upon the remains of a watchtower, slowly travelling up the barely standing structure until they reached the top.
The Sin Eaters really had done a number to this place.
A sudden pain then shot through her head, causing a low hiss to escape her as her mind was offered another vision.
Fire was raining from the sky, turning the vast sea of trees into a giant blaze that threatened to swallow everything. Scream and shouts, as well as bestial roars and other such monstrous sounds, pervaded the air, only to be drowned out by loud boom of explosions as balls of burning dread struck into the already battered fort.
A figure stood atop the tower, looking at the carnage, face obscured by their hood.
Another figure, Urianger, stepped out onto the platform, stopping a few paces behind the smaller one.
"What sayeth thou, Master Matoya?" he asked, holding up the three worn tarot cards in his hand. "We may accept this fate, or defy it, but we cannot deny it."
"Deny?" the familiar husky voice of Y'shtola replied. "You should know well I'm not one to run from my troubles."
One of the burning trees collapsed under its own weight, crushing a palisade wall and creating a wave of hot air that made Y'shtola's hood blow off her head, revealing pale eyes that glimmered in the light.
"Until our friend arrives—" she gripped the staff in her hand tightly. "—I will hold the line."
Swinging it to the side, she readied herself for the Sin Eaters coming barrelling towards them.
"Eni..."
"Now! Surround them!"
As she was flung back into the present, S'eni found their group being encircled from all sides by people dressed in light robes, brandishing bows and staves that they levelled at them. Slowly, she began to raise her hands. Great, just what we needed.
A man approached. He was a Hrothgar, or rather, a Ronso, and very obviously the leader of this band. He looked at them for a few seconds before a look of visible confusion formed on his face.
"These Sin Eaters, they're not like the others!" he exclaimed.
"There's a reason for that," Thancred said immediately after. "Lower your weapons, please. We mean you no harm."
"How is it they can speak?" a man with a bow asked as whispers began to go through the gathered crowd.
"It's a Sin Eater trick. They mean to kill us all!"
S'eni looked around, watching as the confusion on their leader's face passed onto the others. She opened her mouth to say something, to try and explain that they were obviously no Sin Eaters.
Instead, though, she said, "Uh...kupo?"
"...That will seem a lot less amusing when we're forced to kill them," Thancred muttered.
Another wave of whispers passed through their ambushers.
"Oh for the love of…" Emet-Selch turned his head to look at her. "I had hoped that by accompanying you, we might get to understand one another, but all I've come to understand is that you have a knack for inciting the natives. You've committed the cardinal sin of boring me and so I'll retire to the shade."
He smirked and, just before vanishing, added, "Good Luck."
"There! Did you see that one disappear?" someone asked.
Thancred groaned. "I think I preferred Lahabrea."
"Enough. Runar, report," the one voice she should pick out between a thousand others then echoed through the air, and she felt her heart do a little jump as she turned to look at the approaching form of Y'shtola. S'eni exhaled sharply.
Dressed in a long dark robe, consisting of an uneven layered skirt that swung with every step she took and a fur-lined bodice that hugged her body in just the right ways, she was striking a rather imposing figure that was no less beautiful to her. No...she actually looked even more beautiful than before.
Gods she had missed her.
The leader, who was apparently called Runar, turned towards Y'shtola. "We apprehended them as you ordered but...are you certain these are Sin Eaters?"
Y'shtola's eyes narrowed slightly as she turned her gaze away from him and towards them.
"The intense light of the aether I saw was unmistakable. If not Sin Eaters, then what?"
What!? The rush of joy was replaced by confusion and she shared a look with Urianger.
"'Tis passing queer that she should mistake us for the enemy, is it not?" he asked in whisper.
"Yeah, what's going on?"
"Mayhap it hath been too long since last she beheld the radiance of thine aether..." turning his gaze towards Y'shtola, he raised his voice again. "Master Matoya, hath time truly made strangers of us?"
"No, I recognize you Urianger, Thancred." Y'shtola crossed her arms firmly in front of her chest. "And this is Minfilia of the First, which you have mentioned before."
"Just so. And knowing as thou must that we come in peace, might I prevail upon thee to have thy comrades lower their arms?"
"First explain this other presence in your company. The one I don't know." Her heart skipped a beat, a look of shock forming on her face as those silvery-white eyes began to pierce into her like the sharpest of blades. "There's only one manner of creature in this world whose aether is filled with such an abundance of light."
Y'shtola thought she was a Sin Eater!?
Her mouth opened, but no words managed to come out, so it was Urianger who answered in her stead.
"Mine apologies, Master Matoya, but thou art mistaken. Before thee standeth our dear comrade, S'eni. The truest hero among us. Though she only recently arrived here, not one but two Lightwardens have already perished by her most puissant hand," he said and S'eni could see the hard look in her lover's eyes fade as they stared at one another.
"It—"
"Did you really think I was a Sin Eater?" she somehow managed to ask.
Y'shtola recoiled as if she had just been slapped, arms dropping to her side and eyes widening in disbelief. Slowly, she stepped forward, bridging the distance between them until she stood just in front of her.
"Eni...is that really you...?" she asked in an almost inaudible whisper.
"It's clearly been too long...Master Matoya," S'eni replied.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Y'shtola ran a half-gloved hand across her face before saying in a loud voice, "Lower your weapons. I...I made a mistake."
As everyone began to lower their weapons, S'eni and the others lowered their arms as well.
"Please forgive us for this hostile welcome," Y'shtola said, removing her hand and offering them an apologetic smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Come. I will give you a proper introduction to Rak'tika and its people."
"Lead the way," S'eni replied, her lips drawn in a straight line.
Together with the Night's Blessed, they left the ruins of Fort Gohn behind, heading north-eastward where their current settlement was located. S'eni hung in the back, her eyes focusing on Y'shtola while she led the way, a deep frown marring her features.
Was her aether really that similar to that of a Sin Eater?
She still remembered how Y'shtola had once described it. Bright like a beacon, like nothing she had ever seen before.
It seemed like the First had changed that quite thoroughly.
Up ahead, Y'shtola stopped for a moment to say something to that Runar fellow, who gave her a short nod and continued onward while letting herself fall back until she was next to S'eni.
They walked for a couple of minutes with an awkward silence hanging between them, occasionally glancing at the other until S'eni just couldn't take it anymore.
"Listen—"
"I—"
They both blinked, then chuckled, and the awkwardness dissipated a little.
"You first," S'eni said.
"I...wanted to apologize. For thinking you were a Sin Eater. It's just..."
"It's been three years?" she offered, trying to keep her tone light despite this fact having gnawed at her ever since the Exarch had told her.
"...That too. It hasn't been easy, you know?" Y'shtola turned her eyes to the beaten path in front of them, their friends growing smaller in the distance as they slowed down. "I have seen first hand what destruction they can bring."
"Yeah, I have too..."
"I take it you know about Urianger's vision?"
S'eni nodded. "Another Calamity, our world in tatters...and my death."
The other Miqo'te stopped, forcing her to do so as well. "When we first arrived here, I endeavoured to find a way back to the Source as swiftly as possible. But when I learned what was at stake and that the key to stopping it all might be here on the First, I chose to stay. Because the alternative would mean losing you…"
Pale eyes locked onto hers, and for a moment, S'eni couldn't do anything but stare at her. It didn't take long to regain her composure though and she reached out to gently take hold of one of Y'shtola's hands.
"Then I take it you're not tired of me yet after all this time?" she asked, the corners of her lips curling into a smile as she raised the hand to her cheek, brushing her thumb over the intricate silver claw adorning it.
Y'shtola let out a little laugh that was like music to S'eni's ears and shook her head. "I'm afraid not."
Unable to resist any longer, she pulled her lover in close, letting their foreheads come to rest upon one another. "Shtola..." she murmured, eyes slowly closing as she leaned in, but found herself sadly stopped by a finger placing itself on her lips.
"As much as I would like you to continue, and believe me I do, I'm afraid if you kiss me now I will be unable to stop myself, and our friends are undoubtedly awaiting our arrival."
She groaned inwardly, but begrudgingly had to admit that Y'shtola was right. Still...
"Can we at least stay like this? Just a little longer?"
"Absolutely."
They remained like this for a moment longer, just basking in each other's company, and her smile grew when she felt soft fingers dig into the fabric on her back. Eventually though, they separated.
"So, I believe you wished to properly introduce me to the Night's Blessed," S'eni said.
"I did." The other Miqo'te nodded. A frown then formed on her face. "Eni...are you truly alright?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
A look of...something flashed across Y'shtola's face, but it was gone almost instantly. "I suppose you're right."
"Are you alright?" she asked in return.
"Yes. Yes, I am." a small smile. "Now come, it's not much further."
"After you, Master Matoya."
Y'shtola released a huff. "You're not going to let me live this down, are you?"
"Hah, never!"
Resuming their walk, Y'shtola told her a little about these parts of the Rak'tika Greatwoods, which she had grown very familiar with during her two years long stay here. Just like with the Black Shroud, the further one left the beaten path, the more likely they were to encounter the much less friendlier side of nature.
After a while, they came to a stop in front of a long tunnel leading to what she suspected was the Blessed's settlement. Y'shtola turned to face her, tilting her head to the side and raising her hand towards the entrance.
"Welcome to Slitherbough, home of the Night's Blessed."
Yay, Y'shtola is back! Ah, but I wonder what might have her so worried?
Ok, so as some of you might notice, I modified the dialogue from the Shadowbringers trailer/intro a bit there. Largely because the way that one was framed made it seem like everything that happened was happening at the same time (so Derplander fighting the Sin Eater, the attack on Fort Gohn, and Minfilia being rescued) and so the line Y'shtola said there also sounded as if they were waiting for Derplander to return to them from what he was doing there. But as we know, all that happened before we even arrive on the First so I changed it to make it sound like she was going to hold the line until S'eni actually arrives on the First, since she was hardly "returning" after all.