Raineh Daze

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Miina Malina and Éliane Laruelle

After slipping away from her father and Izayoi, Miina set about the next item on her list: talking to Éliane. Of course, that meant finding her… which, really, wasn’t that hard. There weren’t any other Sollan women hanging around the camp, and she wasn’t the quietest person. Interestingly, Miina didn’t find her in the more-established area – although she supposed that, to someone from the cities, what was little more than awnings and fires wasn’t all that much anyway. Hm, or maybe the kids were being annoying with maintaining her weapons or something?

Either way, it took slightly longer than the redhead had been expecting before spotting her around the outskirts, near the omnipresent shroud of trees. Time to say hello.

From Éliane’s perspective, some of the endless rustling in the leaves resolved into a certain Mystral hanging down from the branches upside down, with a stuttered, “I n-need to t-t-talk to you,” as her sole greeting.

The pink-haired Skaelan woman was not-quite ambling through the outer paths of the settlement. Given the newfound (and expected) hostility between the Kirins and Drana Asneau, Éliane had taken it upon herself to scout out the area to find both defensible areas and vantage points in case the Grovemasters’ lackeys or even Valheimians decided to attack.

Seeing the mystral woman suddenly pop out of the branches in front of her made her immediately stop, reaching for her weapon– until she saw that it was Miina. “...Yes?” she responded, tilting her head at the unexpected appearance.

“N-Not here,” the short girl muttered, dropping from the trees and somehow not cracking her head in the process, “There’s a spot nearby.”

Without explaining why she needed to get Éliane completely alone, Miina took off deeper into the forest, following some path that must have only existed in her head. Nonetheless, she did lead them straight to an inviting-looking gap in the trees, where a barely-present stream temporarily fed into a little pool before continuing onwards to wherever it would eventually end up. A pool the redhead wasted no time in sitting beside, idly splashing the water.

One awkward moment later, she finally twisted to get a good look at the pink-haired woman. “Éliane…p-please stop threatening my home.”

Éliane had raised an eyebrow, but followed Miina towards the small pool-like pond. She hadn’t interacted much with the overly flustered girl much before today aside from things that strictly had to do with the party’s overall goals, but given how much Éliane had been venting about the hospitality of this nation over the past few days, she had a very good idea at how this conversation was going to go.

Even if it did give off a very different impression at the beginning.

“I’m not threatening your home. I’m threatening the ‘Grovemasters’ that sit arrogantly and ignorantly as they run everything into the ground.” Brushing off some of the old lichen, she took a seat on a nearby log, facing Miina. “Aren’t you frustrated too?”

“War would b-be disastrous for Drana,” Miina answered, gesturing at the forest around them, “F-Few roads, no real armies. Most of us would have n-no idea what’s going on, and if anyone f-fought back… it doesn’t matter who. And once someone g-goes cutting things down, burning it… we’re in the m-middle. What about the next time another c-country wants a sneak attack?”

Realising that she hadn’t answered the question, Miina blinked a few times before continuing, “B-B-Besides… why does wanting those three g-gone mean it needs to be something b-big? Just kill them, m-m-make it look like Valheim or the B-Blight and…”

Well, they’d need to find new Grovemasters, so that would be bad for security… but two idiots and a traitor weren’t all that much better anyway, so what did it matter? It would be good for the people that lived here and weren’t concerned with doing what the Grovemasters wanted. And most of those that did.

“Hmm…” Éliane paused, considering Miina’s words as she brought a hand up to her chin in thought. Eventually, she shook her head. “That reinforces my argument. Brightlam is up the river and if Drana has no real armies to speak of, then the war will be short and bloodless with the Grovemasters ousted. If it’s just a matter of sailing some warships up the river… it would be a brief occupation before a more rational government is put into power, one that could defend itself against Valheim and the Blight,” she concluded, looking satisfied with her own answer as she slapped a closed first into an open hand. “Assuming it could be pulled off… isn’t that the same result?”

“The water’s not… th-that navigable,” Miina answered, giving it some thought, “And th-they could hardly miss a warship. Get one or two to s-s-sink and th-then you’re stuck marching up b-b-but everyone knows where you are.

“It w-would be like hunting, j-j-just pick off the edges.” That wasn’t to say that the first part would be easy… but they’d seen what Isolde on her own was capable of. Who’s to say that the other two Grovemasters didn’t count a Black Mage amongst their number, or that there wasn’t something equally dangerous? If the gun Éliane was such a fan of was indicative of her expectations for equipment, then Skael wouldn’t do things by half. Send a ship that could barely make it to Brightlam…

“G-Getting the real target is m-m-much easier than fighting through everyone. It’s l-l-like taking down a gang…”

Éliane gave her another considering look. “You don’t sound too confident about that,” she pointed out. But then again Miina never sounded very confident to her. “A night surprise would solve a lot of those problems.”

She leaned in, a conspiratorial look coming over her face. “But your idea doesn’t sound half bad either! How would you go about offering the entire council of Grovemasters?”

“Eh? At once?” Miina asked, tilting her head curiously and staring at the soldier, “W-Well… p-p-poison or trapping them and b-burning the room down would be n-normal, but Isolde would s-stop that… m-m-maybe if you lead with some sort of sedative…?”

“But I w-wouldn’t want to do a b-big job like that. I’d w-want to watch them first, f-find any habits, wh-where they sleep or r-relax, exactly wh-what they can do… th-then make a plan for each. Either you would need to do th-them all in one night, or have th-three people strike at once, otherwise the other two would react, b-but, mm, yeah…”

“My normal p-plan… it’s really easy to g-get in when people are sleeping, if they’re not p-p-paranoid, and guards aren’t trained for invisibility…”

“You are going to have to get them all at once,” Éliane confirmed. “Settling for any less means they would have a continuity of government and it would be all a waste. If you think my idea’s too destructive, then it needs to have the same result at least.” Even as she said that, she mulled over Miina’s own ideas. They were not her style at all, but even she could recognize when other methods were called for. However…

“The strictest surprise is a given. I agree, poison or getting them asleep would be the most effective options… Or we can bomb them all at once!” She smirked, the idea of getting to play with explosives again already making her excited. “Alright, fine. If we come up with a good idea to get rid of the Grovemasters at once, then maybe we don’t need an invasion. Maybe Esben would have some good ideas too… I’m not the one most people go to for… anything covert.”

In the most deadpan voice she could muster, Miina said, “That is why we’re talking.”

Having maintained eye contact as long as she really felt necessary (or rather, comfortable with), Miina dusted what little she was wearing off as she rose to her feet. “W-Well, I’ll l-l-l-leave Esben to you, let me know if you n-need my magic…”

Éliane tilted her head, giving Miina a questioning look. “Right. Whatever we do, those three must go.” She rose as well, dusting off her uniform in the process. “I’ll see what we can come up with.”

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Tyaethe

At the confirmation of her orders, Tyaethe once again broke into the alarming-looking grin, even tossing her sword from one hand to another in a way that would have been alarming even if the blade alone wasn't longer than the diminutive vampire's height. If she was praying, she gave no outward sign despite her position – in truth, the only thing around Rozenalt she had been praying for in the past two centuries was this opportunity. Victory… in this situation, that was something she wanted on her own merits.

Though, there was nothing there about not making the process easier. For instance… when the Feinyar came drifting by, Tyaethe reached out to stop her for a second, ignoring the way her bare arms immediately started to burn at the sensation. "You must know some Nithyr, right? Once you've lead us to the Hunt, do you think you could send some along to play with us? I remember they liked it, last time."

So long as there was more of the Hunt than there was of them, getting the Nithyr involved would balance the scales a little. They wouldn't want the fun to end too soon, and she doubted they'd realise that the goal was only the defeat of Rozenalt.

Her preparations done, Tyaethe started humming as the fae began to lead the way to their destination – and soon singing outright, in Estrialan this time. She could have gone for one of the most traditional Veltish versions of the story, where Rozenalt was slain by Velt's Prince, and definitely the most commonly performed. Or there was the ending popularised by Ithillin, where the fiend took his own life to deny anyone else the pleasure. This song, although with so much in common with the Veltish that even the word choices were often similar, was instead one where the Princess disguised as her brother and pursued Rozenalt, while the actual Prince lead his knights to ambush Rozenalt's own men. Thus cornered alone, the Princess defeated the vile spellblade atop his own castle.

It seemed the most apt version here, and it was the jauntiest of the tunes she knew. Aside from the castle but they all had that detail, so who cared?

Another Life in a Fantasy World (Invite Only)

Hikari

It was definitely novel to not be singled out with the expectation of drunkenness, after so long working in corporate culture. If there had been anyone that normally would have been accused of being out drinking… well, they probably wouldn't have been wrong, work always did have its own expectations. She probably shouldn't go about doing that now, though. Or should she? Hm, she was a maid, rather than some sort of miko, so probably not that sort of fox… yeah, best to avoid it, given her apparent age. All her tolerance was bound to have been wiped away by that.

Probably.

Well, Jor had turned from a pretty lady into a fascinating-looking snake, and she was very glad to not have any sort of fears regarding them. Some apprehension, of course; it would be silly to not be concerned around a snake that you weren't sure was safe. But this one had been a person just a minute ago, so Hikari carried her along without complaint, occasionally stroking the other woman's head as she went along.

"Oh, that's a nice cottage you have."

The Elder Scrolls IV: Cyrodiil

The necromancer gives you a half-confused, half-panicked look at the zombie sent stumbling back towards her – and helpless to avoid any follow-up attack; an ageing, unarmoured mage scarcely a challenge when trying to shove the sluggish walking corpse of a Legionnaire back onto its feet.

As the two bodies lie still, Lanessa lets out a polite clap, and then a cough – “My sword, please?

“Well, it was a good first showing, for someone without a hint of formal training. Most importantly, you didn't lock up with fear when it was just yourself and the undead, which can only mean good things going forwards. Now… we ought to get back and report this to the innkeep, no? And keep an eye for any other ne'er-do-wells that might be lurking on the roads westward."

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Miina Malina and Ranbu no Izayoi

Later that evening, both Madis and Miina sat in the former’s tent, enjoying a cup of herbal tea after a hearty dinner of roasted beast shank. Once they were finished, Madis lowered his cup, still sat cross-legged as he simply stared Miina down for several moments, an unreadable expression on his face.

”...Damn it.” He sighed, closing his eyes as he raised a hand to palm his forehead. ”I’m glad you’re safe, Miina. But this is no small amount of trouble you’ve gotten yourself into. All for what, a trace of a boy years gone? And I suppose you haven’t tracked M’zeke down, either.”

Miina’s tail flicked a few times, the girl glowering over the cup at her father. As if staying out would have saved them any of this trouble; she’d never been stupid enough to tell anybody exactly which tribe she came from. Not even now, and if everyone still had a brain they’d relocate just in case. The only trouble they were in was if the Templars blundered in within the next few days, otherwise, the Blight would have gotten them all the same. “I n-n-nearly did. T-Tracked him to Osprey, th-then back to D-Drana. He’s probably in Skael or Esdren now. And s-someone needs to stop the B-B-Blight.”

“And it’s not like you l-l-let go of your big sister either.” She’d seen his reaction to Izayoi – and wasn’t that one a bizarre thought, she had another cousin! And had ogled her cousin. And part of her still wanted to – and while her father hadn’t gone on a trip around half the continent, to her knowledge, he’d refused to let go either.

”That’s different.” The reply was almost automatic for how quick it came, and Madis scowled, pouring himself another cup of tea. ”Your aunt wasn’t meant to leave, by right and custom.” His face fell slightly as he stared down into the beverage, taking in the steam. ”I had hoped she’d still be living happily, even now. To think that it was all moot for a quarter of a century. In any case,” He raised the tea to his lips for a slow sip before continuing on.

”I can’t make you stay. You’re sure you won’t reconsider?”

Miina took a drink of her own, expression cloudy, “D-D-Definitely not. They don’t have any other m-m-mage now, and the B-Blight is as bad for here as anywhere.”

Heh, but that aside, ever the hypocrite. Her aunt wasn’t meant to leave, so it was fine to worry, even though he had to leave in the end and they would have been separated all the same. So what if he should have known where to find his sister? That wasn’t so different from Miina’s goal, was it?

“After… m-m-maybe. Cities are confusing, the l-l-laws don’t make sense, and it’s t-t-too loud. But… I want to know where m-my brother is. And the travelling is n-n-nice,” the smaller redhead continued. And she was never going to settle for a perfect, secluded life here, either; marrying was out of the cards and it would be a waste to finally get some actual proficiency in magic and waste it on bears.
Maybe there’d be something out there that would get her to stop coming back here? A lot of the things she liked were just things, and she could just go collect them at any time. Maybe even easier, if she learned the right spell, surely? There had to be something beyond the Exit materia.

”Fine, fine.” Her father sighed, giving in more quickly than one would expect. ”You’ll always have a place here, of course. You’re one of us, no matter what. But even if you do find that son of mine, by custom, he has no place here unless he supplants me. Is that understood?”

“Absolutely.” All messages received, loud and clear. It was the story of their relationship her entire life: enough attention to fulfill the role, yet not the slightest effort put in to actually care. And the old man had the gall to wonder why she was so invested in finding her brother or focusing on the good of the world rather than just her home.

She owed him just enough to not hold the knife if Zeke ever chose to come home, that was all.

Miina finished her drink in silence, gently placing the cup down and uncrossing her legs in one smooth motion. Who to look for… she had business with Éliane but that could wait a little longer. Izayoi, then. It was just a matter of finding the older woman and out here nobody was going to hide from her for long.

It didn’t take long for Izayoi to be found. The elder of the two mystrel stood at the outskirts of camp, rapidly working through sword kata. Compared to the weeks they’d been in Osprey, Izayoi seemed swifter, more precise. More true to the legends surrounding her, even if not fully so yet.

Upon sheathing her sword at the end of a successful ten-hit combination, Izayoi turned to Miina, having noticed her halfway through but not stopped. She wiped a few drops of sweat from her brow, offering a curt nod.

”...Ought I refer to you as ‘Cousin’ now?”

That swordplay… it was so entrancing to see it in motion. Still, that was half the problem, and part of why she needed this conversation. “Mmm… it’s n-n-not necessary. I’m used to having c-cousins, at least on the other s-side.”

She looked around a bit, then pointed to another girl just within view, lounging on a tree branch and whittling away at something. Another redhead, which wasn’t altogether unsurprising for this particular group, but it was a distinctly browner shade than Miina’s. “Kiira there’s the closest n-now, her younger b-brother is my age.”

Miina leant back against one of the omnipresent trees, fiddling with a vine growing around its trunk. “I’d s-say this shouldn’t ch-change anything, b-but… w-well, I owe you an apology. F-For all the staring.”

Well… that was probably owed regardless, she’d never been exactly… subtle. But it was also something that seemed to annoy the settled folk more? The degree of relationship, that was. But she’d not really gotten a firm grasp on it, and Osprey’s attitude… it was hard to say.

Izayoi politely followed Miina’s gaze to her own, and she supposed Izayoi’s as well now, aforementioned cousins, listening all the while. She folded her arms, raising an eyebrow at the apology.

”I’d think it would have been warranted, regardless if we were family or not.” She remarked wryly, mild amusement in her tone. ”It would change little within Osprey as well, considering that there is little taboo among cousins there. Especially among the upper class. Though I’m sorry to inform you that I’ve no interest in women in that way, especially for one over a decade my junior.” Really, the fact that she had to state this twice now in as many weeks was just a headache.

”In truth, I believe I owe you an apology. My rejection of your father’s offer was not meant as a slight against yourself or your tribe. But I am not my mother. I hardly remember my mother.”

“I know, I kn-know…” Miina said, sighing, “I j-just… didn’t want to risk this m-m-making it a problem after all.”

“I never knew my m-mother either,” she added after a pause, looking back towards the camp, “All I ever had were stories. Th-They weren’t the same, b-b-but Zeke would do his best, and everyone else would l-let me know what they could. I think you should d-d-do the same while you’re here? D-Dad was b-born here… it might be nice to know. N-Not many girls would leave here for Osprey. And if y-you do, you might get some m-more supplies, heh. Especially from Dad. He’s… n-not a bad man, just a terrible father.”

The less they had to spend or trade on supplies, the better. To a degree, after all, Miina could just take what she needed, but it did mean she’d be spending her time here helping out and doing what she was best at, same as ever. Izayoi could get some of that same invitation, without the immediate expectation of reciprocity.

The samurai nodded in sympathy at Miina’s mention of her mother, but pursed her lips at the suggestion given.

”The idea has merit.” She allowed begrudgingly. ”And I likely will do as you’ve said. Though I find the idea of feigning interest in a topic that interests me little for material gain distasteful. But if it is for the benefit of our group, then there is little debate to be had with myself.”

Hm… well, Miina doubted that Izayoi would be swayed further by arguments of not missing out on something she might regret later. The two of them had taken very different approaches to their familial losses – obviously, that one of Miina’s had been only partially impossible was a player, there…

Maybe one day she should ask the older woman about that. It was a sore point, but family did matter, even extended, to her. It made what they were doing more personal. Just a little bit.

“Well, there’s n-not much else for you to do,” she settled on in the end, “C-Constant training needs breaks.”

Maybe she could use magic to skip over that; it was an interesting idea for her own usage… but Miina couldn’t exactly spend the time acting as a personal medic when the entire extended village would need her; the skill was hardly that common.

”If I wished to know more of our shared blood, I ought to ask you instead. Not someone whom can only see my mother when they look at me.” Izayoi stared at Miina for a moment, tilting her head in thought. ”Does sibling obsession run in the blood?”

A beat passed.

”A jest, forgive me. Still, if you would care to at some point, I would not be opposed to hearing of our heritage from you, when there is an opportunity.”

Did it run in families? Well, evidence suggested it might, but maybe that was just the downside of a cultural prerogative to split them so often—

Miina couldn’t help pouting when Izayoi said she was joking.

“Mmm… I c-can tell you about everyone else,” she eventually said with a nod, pushing away from the tree. “N-N-Not now, though. Need to talk t-to Éliane, and help out…”

Izayoi nodded, patting Miina’s shoulder briefly as she passed by her, walking off back toward camp.

The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel

Fighter's Guild

“Good, I'm glad to have you on board. The clients have wanted to launch this for weeks, so you only have until tomorrow to prepare,” she explains, relaxing slightly at the easy acceptance on everyone's faces, “Don't forget to prepare for the desert, if this is your first time. Being caught out in full armour is a fast route to heatstroke, and you aren't going to be able to do your job if we have to drag you.”

“The guild has some supplies you can take, but we'd generally recommend not going in full armour in the first place, so if you do, that's your problem,” she adds, finally introducing herself as Tannida and taking the papers off of the hovering young man. Some she hands over – contract stipulations, the bare details of the job – and others she simply looks through. As brusque as it is, the interview is clearly over; more and more of the normal guild members are coming through to ask other questions.

---

Marketplace

“For people so interested in their own magic swords, they never seem to take me up on the offer of conjured weapons,” another half-shrug, “The conjuration is just something on the side. Trying to put a permanent conjuration into a scroll…”

The Argonian seems amused by the desire to look at his finished work, but pulls out a few nonetheless. Not conjuration, but alteration, mostly – protection against fire, or wind, or a particularly elaborate and specific barrier to deal with sand of all things. Surprisingly thorough, for a wizard working from a market stall, and a much better indication of his speciality. The lone evidence of destruction magic is more in line with the half-finished work on the table; the quality is standard and without any fanfare, but not riddled with functional mistakes.

And the occasional half-finished work that clearly wouldn't function speaks to the dabbling he spoke of.

Another Life in a Fantasy World (Invite Only)

Hikari

"I'm fine," the fox confirmed, shifting back into her mostly-human appearance. Hm, even after accounting for being held at arm's length, she still didn't reach the floor like this… maybe she could be put down in a minute? That would be nice, this was definitely feeling strange. Had anyone ever actually held her like this, even when she was small?

Maybe as a baby. Any other scenario would have felt more than a little strange.

The other pair had already confirmed that they'd just woken up there. She felt there was no more that she needed to add. After all, why would there be a maid sneaking out into a dilapidated shrine? She ought to have more important duties to attend to.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Tyaethe

Then – this was it. After two centuries of waiting, she could finally check one of the few remaining things off her to-do list and all without the inconvenience of actually needing to go out and track the Midnight Hunt down. There would be no need to keep relocating to avoid being pulled into some fae realm in this case; and Rozenalt wouldn't be able to use that as an opportunity to break off and sic the rest of them as soon as the advantage started to swing their way. “Ah… that's good, very good. I've been waiting so long for another go at him.”

But… she should ask, first. The other knights had improved by leaps and bounds over such a short time, they might be more eager to test themselves now, without being torn apart in the process.

“Captain, I can fight Rozenalt, or I can thin out the Hunt. What do you want me doing?”

Even if she still couldn't keep the anticipatory smile off her face.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Cyrodiil

Being so much fresher, and still armed, the zombie reacts considerably more than the rest of the necromancer's undead… but either it's still been too long, or her skill leaves something to be desired, as its attempt at deflection just gets the sword stuck halfway through cutting its arm, the standard legion armour not able to hold up to the elven blade. The necromancer, for her part, tsks and swaps strategy: rather than send out a bolt of fire, why not just a constant stream? It's admittedly less damaging, especially given your own racial resilience, but it doesn't seem that your magical shield protects from this…

Lanessa stands unbothered behind a raised hand, a faintly shimmering ward absorbing the flames with even less effort than the bolt you had dodged.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Miina Malina

Two days later, and Miina still couldn't help but sulk over her failure. The dispel had worked perfectly, but her ability to follow through was terrible, and unfortunately the betrayer got away. Now, of course, the entire country was up in arms over them; how was that fair? They hadn't done anything all that bad. None of them had a way to stop the Grovemaster from just healing everything away as soon as the coast was clear (and it would be very clear indeed after Leviathan).

But sulking wasn't practical, and cleaning and drying her clothes was important. Probably not the most dignified use of magic, but with a bit of needlework too, she'd have her fancy clothing all patched up by the time they needed to be in a city again or something. And this way, if anyone really needed to go exploring out in the wilderness, she'd at least blend in beyond the hair colour, it'd be fine…

Well, it was easy enough to justify her choice of dress after the fact while she was making sure this looked good.

At Izayoi's question, the small Mystral looked even more like she'd bitten into a lemon, but sighed and gave an answer. “N-Not far, a few d-d-days at most if th-they've moved. Zeke and I c-came out here a few times. Th-That will put us back t-towards Osprey, though…”

Really, she could only wish that this was a fishing trip or an excuse to just practice ice magic, but no. Fate of the world and she was probably even further from her brother after all this mess.