Return to the Steppe
Alphinaud, as it had turned out, never arrived in Garlemald. His ship went down in the inhospitable wasteland simply called The Burn, a land that had been ravaged by primals in ages past. They found the bodies of members of the Emperor's personal guard, but no sight of him or Maxima.
While it was troubling news, not everything was bad, as Hien, at the suggestion of the Alliance, began to reach out towards the other nations of Othard to form their own alliance. To that end, my friends began hatching a plan to assure the safety of our allies in the Far East.
But to that end, a special kind of diplomacy was needed.
The wind blew across the plains, creating waves of endless green that danced to the howling song it created. High above, the sun shined brightly in perfect alignment to the Dawn Throne in the distance, as if Azim himself had come to bear witness to this moment.
At the part where the grass was slowly turning to sand, stood S'eni, her face a mask of determination and arms raised in a battle stance.
And lying in front of her in the dirt, breathing heavily, was Sadu Heavensflame, Khatun of the Dotharl.
They stared at one another, neither saying a word. Then, from one moment to the next, the Xaela began to laugh. "Yes! This is what I was talking about. Such sweet pleasure, such pure bliss. Today my soul burned bright indeed!"
Her laughter grew louder and, taking this as the sign that their duel was finally over, S'eni lowered her arms. She looked towards the Dotharl that had joined as witnesses to this battle, each giving her a satisfied nod.
"I take it you're satisfied?" she asked, bridging the gap between Sadu and her. For a moment, she played with the idea of helping her up, but given the Dotharl's nature, it would probably be considered an insult.
"Aye." Grabbing her staff, the Khatun used it to help herself stand. "You are the victor, Khagan."
If possible, her grin grew even wider. "Now let's return to the others. By the looks of it, that moonstruck fool has gotten the beating he rightfully deserves."
They both turned to look into the distance, where a large explosion of aether, which she recognized as the same spell that Y'shtola had once used before, signaled the end of their own battle.
"Well, let's see what the Sun has to say then."
Sadu just scoffed at that.
As expected, they found Magnai and Daidukul in much the same position Sadu was in only mere moments ago while Hien and Y'shtola both stood victorious.
"Ah, impeccable timing, my friend," Hien greeted them, sheathing his katana. He smiled at the Khatun next to her. "I take it she has proven her worth?"
"She has! Ahhh, never have I felt such bliss in defeat. It was a battle to burn soul and flesh to ash." Sadu closed her eyes and smiled, as if she had just eaten the most delicious delicacy and wanted to savour the taste for as long as possible. "We will lend you our strength as promised. Nhaama's power is yours to wield. And what does the Sun have to say to that?"
Opening her eyes again, the Xaela woman let them come to rest upon Magnai, her expression becoming just a tad mocking at the sight of him.
"Hmpf. The Sun is not driven by such base motives. But aye, they have been judged..." he pushed himself back to his feet and began to walk forward. "...And found worthy. It is the way of the Oronir to recognise and respect the strong. You have given sufficient proof of your strength. The Sun shall answer your call."
"You have our thanks. We are glad to call you allies," Hien told them.
S'eni watched as Magnai came to a stop in front of Y'shtola, staring at her for several seconds. "You. What is your name?"
Another few seconds passed before the other Miqo'te replied, "Y'shtola Rhul."
A familiar glint entered the Oronir's eyes, one that she had found herself subjected to in the past, even if only for the briefest of moments, and which was still annoying her to this very day.
"Are you...Are you my Nhaama?"
"I beg your pardon?" Y'shtola's drew up her eyebrows in confusion.
"In battle, you shone with all the majesty of the full moon's light, your healing touch the embodiment of the Dusk Mother's love. Long had I wondered if my Nhaama might not be a woman of the Steppe." He opened his arms wide, his voice becoming almost frantic now. "Beholding you, I am all but certain! Now, look into my eyes. Could it be…? Could you be…?"
Silence wrapped itself around the area, even the wind had momentarily slowed down as if it too had been shocked by the words the Khan had uttered. A light pain shot up from her palms as the hands that had hung idly by her sides balled into fists.
The spark of annoyance deep inside her turned into a flame of anger, his words serving as the kindling.
The absolute nerve of that guy!
Gritting her teeth, she began to stomp over to the two of them, intending to teach Magnai a lesson he wouldn't forget so soon when her lover spoke up.
"I'm..." Y'shtola locked eyes with him. "Not interested, Little Sun. Try again when you have become a man."
After saying those words, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly and on her lips formed a smile that cut deeper than any blade ever could.
S'eni froze mid-step, unable to do anything but stare at Y'shtola, her anger fizzling out almost instantly and being replaced with nothing short of amazement.
Magnai, too, could only stare, his usually imposing stature seeming rather small all of a sudden. "Little…?" he asked, voice growing a pitch or two and his arms dropping limply.
In the distance, the cry of a bird echoed through the air, soon joined by another bout of laughter from Sadu.
"Little Sun! Little Sun!" she repeated, a condescending smirk on her lips. "Aww, does it hurt, Little Sun? Do you crave salve to soothe the ache? Fire to sear the wound in your heart?"
That was enough to draw Magnai back out of his stupor and the axe off his back, fire returning to his eyes as he began to advance on the Dotharl's Khatun with murderous intent. Sadu raised her staff in response.
And as the two tribe leaders began a dance that, from the looks of it, seemed all too familiar to them, Y'shtola turned towards S'eni and Hien. "We have wasted enough time already. Cirina awaits our return," she told them and began to simply walk away, not even so much as glancing over her shoulder at the battle going on.
S'eni shared a look with Hien before chuckling and hurrying after her lover.
"Little Sun, eh?" she asked once she had caught up, a grin on her lips.
"I'm no stranger to awkward proposals. Some I could let down gently, while others earned themselves a more direct response," Y'shtola explained.
"Direct is one way to call it." More like severe, but she certainly wasn't going to complain about Magnai having been on the other end of those words.
It did serve as a reminder that she should better tread carefully, lest it would be her bearing the brunt of a different, much less pleasant tongue lashing than usual.
Not like you don't know that already, that tiny voice in the back of her mind said, full of amusement. Right?
After they had returned to Mol Iloh and reported their victory to Cirina, the three of them headed to the House of the Crooked Coin. An interesting name for what was a cavern housing an Allagan artifact, its glowing runed pillars growing throughout the entire mountain like the roots of a giant tree. According to Y'shtola, it was what the Allagan Empire had used to raise Azys Lla into the air all those millennia ago and would more than suffice to support the Magitek barrier they were planning to erect in the Burn. They just needed to redirect the flow of aether into the wasteland.
And now, with the permission earned through battle, they could finally get to it.
"I shall begin at once. You may wish to step back," Y'shtola told them after they had arrived and raised her hands, holding them out towards the artifact. S'eni watched as, after a short moment, the tell-tale glow of aether began to surround the other Miqo'te before flowing into the ancient construct. Several minutes passed until the flow of aether faded once more and Y'shtola slumped backwards. Almost immediately, S'eni stepped up to catch her, hands gently holding her shoulders.
"You alright?" she asked.
Though visibly exhausted, Y'shtola still nodded, giving her a faint smile that she returned.
"Did it work?" Hien asked.
"It did. Aether flows freely to the Burn once more."
"I will not pretend to know what you did, Y'shtola, but you did it!" a grin formed on the young king's face that made his whiskers rise. "Thanks to you and S'eni, we have taken a momentous step securing our defenses. Now, shall we return to the Enclave?"
"We shall. The others may have already returned from their mission and I would like to know how things stand." Y'shtola gently pushed herself off S'eni and took a few steps, albeit a little wobbly on her feet.
"Are you sure?" S'eni frowned. "You look like you could use a rest."
"And I will, believe me. Once we return to Doma."
They began staring at one another, Y'shtola crossing her arms in front of her chest while S'eni placed a hand on her hip. This silent contest of wills lasted for a good minute until the sound of Hien clearing his throat made them look at him instead.
"Might I suggest travelling by Yol then?" he asked, an amused smile playing at the corner of his lips. "That way Y'shtola can rest a little on the way there and we would be much quicker as well. I'm sure that is satisfactory for everyone?"
She glanced back over to her lover, before throwing her hand up with a sigh. "Fine."
In one fluid motion, her hand dived into her back, pulled out her whistle, and placed it between her lips. The high-pitched, clear sound it produced echoed far and wide as the wind carried it across the Steppe. A loud cry answered it, and soon after the sound of flapping wings approached their position.
Hien too pulled out his whistle to summon forth his Yol. After the two majestic birds had landed, they climbed on top of them, Y'shtola taking her place behind S'eni and wrapping her arms around her waist. Once everyone was ready, they signalled their mounts and, with another cry from them, took off on storm-colored wings.
"Yols truly are fascinating creatures," Y'shtola said, raising her voice so she could be heard over the wind. "I really should try to acquire one myself."
"I can turn around and take you to Bardam's Mettle if you want," she replied. "Though I'm afraid you'll have to do it on your own."
"I believe I shall pass for now." They both chuckled.
"So..." S'eni began after a short while of just watching the passing plains, running a hand through white feathers of her Yol's neck. "...Awkward proposals?"
"Why did I know you would not let that go?"
"I guess there were quite a lot of them?"
Her lover released a sigh. "Not as much as you might think there were."
"So not the heartthrob of Sharlayan?" she grinned.
"I'm afraid that title shall solely belong to Thancred," Y'shtola said. "And believe it or not, but my reputation of being Matoya's disciple kept many people at bay even when we reached Sharlayan proper, which suited me fine as I wanted to focus on my studies. Of course, that didn't stop some brave souls from trying, and once I was back in Eorzea that 'protection' was gone entirely."
"Well, can't blame anyone for trying, can I?" her hand left soft plumage and placed itself on top of the ones folded in front of her stomach. "Strong, beautiful, and, above all, smart. One might actually say you're the perfect catch."
"And now she's trying to shower me with compliments."
"Heh, guilty as charged I guess." S'eni then hummed in thought. "I guess I've had some rather awkward ones in the past. Back on the Cieldalaes and when I first came to Eorzea. But in recent days...well I guess our little encounter at the beach counts. Maybe I've just gotten boring—hmm?"
She looked over her shoulder when the other woman giggled. "What?"
"I thought I was the blind one," Y'shtola replied.
"Huh?"
"You are not as boring to people as you might think you are. Quite the opposite in fact. There are many who admire you." her head came to rest against S'eni's back. "Dare I say, it's actually me who has made the perfect catch."
S'eni furrowed her brows, turning her eyes back forward where the mountains that served as the natural border between Doma and the Azim Steppe grew closer with every passing second. She knew of course that people looked up to her, and had been repeatedly told about that. It was something that just came with being the Warrior of Light, she supposed. But...it wasn't like that.
Or was it?
"H-Hey, that was a joke. Right?" she asked Y'shtola. "Right?"
But no answer came.
"Shtola?" She tried to glance back over her shoulder, but found herself unable to as she felt the weight against her back grow as her lover began to shift a little, and almost immediately after, her soft, rhythmic breathing could be heard faintly amidst the wind.
A smile began to form on S'eni's lips and she gently grasped one of Y'shtola's hands to make sure she wouldn't let go by accident.
She supposed she would just have to ask her later.
Little Sun, Little Sun! A more lighthearted one to end the week, because coming next week, we'll slowly head towards Shadowbringers, and I think we all know what that means.
Until the, have a good weekend!