04-07-2016, 09:46 PM
((Hello everyone! This is a short story I wrote for my character Rubhi Polaali, a Keeper whose origins she has been keeping mostly a secret. The following short story sets the stage for Rubhi's current disposition, and will be canon for her personality. This is also how I will explain her willingness to now reveal who she is, and the reason she is in Ul'dah. Feel free to leave comments, compliments, and critiques (productive criticism only please). Enjoy!))
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It started with the feeling that something had suddenly gone wrong. Rubhi had never experienced anything like it, and it felt like her heart was breaking for the first time in her life. She was standing in the Quicksand, between two other Keeper females when it happened. She barely recalled what they even looked like. She just stood there, not paying much mind to either of them.
That was when it started. At first, all sounds around her in the Quicksand became a sudden indecipherable blurred din. Then started the pain in the pit of her stomach like she was becoming nauseous and sick. When the room started to spin, however, that was when she could no longer keep her balance and fell to the floor. As the other two tried to assist her, she couldn't respond. Rubhi didn't remember anything except being in a cold, dark place filled with the feeling of utter wrongness. She felt alone in this place - a feeling she'd never had the chance to experience before in her life. Yet, she knew this feeling. It was solitude, but not the peaceful sort.
Had she passed out?
No, this was something entirely different. As time passed, her head began to clear once more. For the first time since it happened, she could hear voice again, concerned though they were for no reason until she realized where she was. Sight returned around the same time as the realization that she had collapsed. One of the strangers cradled her in her arms, trying to offer comfort to her.
Her head had cleared, but the pain was still there as it shifted up from the pit of her stomach until her heart started to ache.
"Ye 'lright?" one of the strangers, the one cradling her head, asked with concern. Rubhi couldn't respond at first, she could only pull away and right herself as she tried to figure out what just happened.
"Yes, I'm fine." She reached a hand up to rub at her eyes, then was shocked at what she found. Tears? She was crying - really crying. The tears were still flowing, and Rubhi could only stare at the wetness on the tips of her fingers wordlessly. Why was she crying? Was in the aching in her chest as though her heart cried out for something?
The others tried to offer her support, but she refused, insisting she was fine as she stood unsteadily. That's when she realized the wrongness. It followed her out of that dark, lonely place into the realm of reality, and she couldn't shake it off.
"I'm sorry. I have to go." It was all she could say before she suddenly darted off in the direction of the airship landing in Ul'dah, intent upon buying a ticket back to Gridania, which was the fastest way back to her people in Coerthas. Something must have happened, or she wouldn't feel so wrong.
She hurriedly departed the lift up to the airship landing, rushing to the ticketing counter, "One for Gridania! I have to hurry?"
The ticketer, a hyuran woman, shook her head, "You just missed the airship. It won't be back for another three bells." Rubhi stared at the woman incredulously, "What?! I can't wait that long! Call them back! They need me!"
"Miss, I need you to calm down! I can't call them back. You have to either wait, or walk to Gridania. It's your choice."
Rubhi gritted her teeth, almost ready to tear her apart for letting the airship leave without her. She finally attempted to calm herself down and rationalize things again, reminding herself that it isn't the woman's fault. "Fine, I'll take a ticket then and wait."
As she sat on one of the stone slabs Ul'dah called benches, a million worries was racing through her head, and the wrongness continued to prevail, as did the ache in her chest. Her heart continued to cry out. For what, she still didn't know...but her fears told her she might.
It felt like eternity before the airship finally returned from Limsa Lominsa. Like an impatient child, Rubhi stood waiting at the departure gate until she was let through, then stood by impatiently while they prepped the airship for departure once more.
"Come on, come on!" she thought to herself as though the crew was taking far too long to get the airship ready for the next flight. The only thing stopping her from jumping on the airship's wheel was the simple fact that she didn't know how to drive an airship at all. All she could do was wait, and that made her feel helpless - a feeling she hated with all her might.
Everything was a waiting game, first waiting for the airship to return, then the preparations for the next flight, and now the flight itself. Everything second was time she didn't have, nor time her tribe had. As she waited for the airship to arrive in Gridania, she continued to fret and worry, and it felt like the ache and the wrongness continued to get worse. After what seemed like another eternity, which was really only about three more bells, Rubhi disembarked from the airship at Gridania. Rushing as best as she could, she blew through the Carline Canopy in search of the Chocobokeep.
She probably paid a little too much for a charter chocobo, but it didn't matter. Gil was unimportant in light of this wrongness that continued to haunt Rubhi. Pressing to go right away, she urged the chocobo onward to the Northern Shroud, past Fallgourd Float until the chocobo could go no further and had to return home.
By then, the trees had begun to give way to the snows of the Coerthas Highlands. Before the Calamity, the Highlands were a beautiful place to live, with endless plains as far as the eye could see. Now it was little more than a barren, cold wasteland of snow and ice. From here, she had to go it alone. Of course, this was familiar territory to Rubhi, and she was certain she could make it back to the Terrorspin Clan on her own. Equipped with a heavy furred cloak, heavy gloves and boots, she started for the mountains where she knew she would find her people.
Or so she thought...
She neared one of the many entrances to the endless subterranean tunnels in which the Terrorspines lived, and she suddenly stopped. The wrongness was stronger than ever, and the aching in her chest made her feel as though she might collapse from cardiac arrest at any moment. Her heart was throbbing from the pain she knew she was about to experience. It wasn't any physical pain, for that she could endure. This was mental and emotional pain.
Rubhi knew what she would find in those caves, yet she had to see anyway. At this point, instinct took over, and she began to assess the surroundings outside the entrance to a rather large cavern. The snow was incredibly disturbing, almost like an army had march through there. The prints left behind, however, were much too large to have been made by Ishgardians, not even local wildlife, not even the supposed Dravanians - heretics as Ishgard called them. These were far larger.
Rubhi's heart sank as she realized they led into the caves, and she had no choice but to follow. The scene she discovered inside was something one would have found in the worst of nightmares. There was blood everywhere, laddening the lifeless bodies of her kin. She was just barely on the threshold of the gruesome sight, and she already fell to her knees, her face twisting into indescribable grief and pain at the sight of her fallen brothers and sisters. She wanted to scream with all her might. She wanted to end the world around her, bring it to nothingness. She could do neither, however - the former for fear of her own life. The Behemoths might still be around. The latter was simply because she had not the power to do so.
Instead, there she languished and silently wept for her slain kin, having fallen to her hands and knees, her shoulders shaking from sobbing as silently as she possibly could. Never before had she experienced such grief and loss. Yet, she had to somehow continue on. There may be survivors, after all.
After a long moment of weakness, she finally managed to steel herself once more and get back up to her feet. She had to keep going and search for anyone left alive. She delved deeper into the caverns, but, no matter how much further in she went, it was all the same thing. The wreak of death hung in the air so thick that it was almost palpable, and it didn't end. Her hopes were crushed when she finally found the remains of her immediate family. Her brother, her matron, and her father. All of them died fighting.
She had finally had enough and returned to the entrance from whence she came. She couldn't keep going anymore with her mind overwhelmed with grief, sadness...and then hatred. Hatred for the man who caused this. The Keeper whose face was unusually marked. The exile from the Coeurlclaws.
Oh, yes, she would rip out every bit of truth she could from the Coeurlclaws if she would have the chance. But first, she had to leave this place. There were too many bodies for her to bury on her own, too many before the Behemoths would surely return to add Rubhi's own life to the fate of so many others. She wanted to hate the Behemoths as much as she did the Marked One, but she came to the realization that they only reacted as she would have were she in their position. If one of your young was stolen from her, she would lash out at any and everyone she could until the youngling was returned to her.
No, the hate had to be directed solely at the Marked One, the Keeper of the Moon with the darkest skin she'd ever seen, with half his face even darker still, like he were purposefully marked.
She will find him, and she will visit upon him the very pain that was visited upon the entirety of her clan.
And so, with a still aching heart, but one now filled with hatred and revenge instead of sorrow, Rubhi ventured to return to Ul'dah where she had lost the scent of the interloper.
As sole survivor of the Terrorspine Clan, vengeance was her right....and it will be fulfilled...
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((And that's all I have so far. Hope you enjoyed reading it!))
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It started with the feeling that something had suddenly gone wrong. Rubhi had never experienced anything like it, and it felt like her heart was breaking for the first time in her life. She was standing in the Quicksand, between two other Keeper females when it happened. She barely recalled what they even looked like. She just stood there, not paying much mind to either of them.
That was when it started. At first, all sounds around her in the Quicksand became a sudden indecipherable blurred din. Then started the pain in the pit of her stomach like she was becoming nauseous and sick. When the room started to spin, however, that was when she could no longer keep her balance and fell to the floor. As the other two tried to assist her, she couldn't respond. Rubhi didn't remember anything except being in a cold, dark place filled with the feeling of utter wrongness. She felt alone in this place - a feeling she'd never had the chance to experience before in her life. Yet, she knew this feeling. It was solitude, but not the peaceful sort.
Had she passed out?
No, this was something entirely different. As time passed, her head began to clear once more. For the first time since it happened, she could hear voice again, concerned though they were for no reason until she realized where she was. Sight returned around the same time as the realization that she had collapsed. One of the strangers cradled her in her arms, trying to offer comfort to her.
Her head had cleared, but the pain was still there as it shifted up from the pit of her stomach until her heart started to ache.
"Ye 'lright?" one of the strangers, the one cradling her head, asked with concern. Rubhi couldn't respond at first, she could only pull away and right herself as she tried to figure out what just happened.
"Yes, I'm fine." She reached a hand up to rub at her eyes, then was shocked at what she found. Tears? She was crying - really crying. The tears were still flowing, and Rubhi could only stare at the wetness on the tips of her fingers wordlessly. Why was she crying? Was in the aching in her chest as though her heart cried out for something?
The others tried to offer her support, but she refused, insisting she was fine as she stood unsteadily. That's when she realized the wrongness. It followed her out of that dark, lonely place into the realm of reality, and she couldn't shake it off.
"I'm sorry. I have to go." It was all she could say before she suddenly darted off in the direction of the airship landing in Ul'dah, intent upon buying a ticket back to Gridania, which was the fastest way back to her people in Coerthas. Something must have happened, or she wouldn't feel so wrong.
She hurriedly departed the lift up to the airship landing, rushing to the ticketing counter, "One for Gridania! I have to hurry?"
The ticketer, a hyuran woman, shook her head, "You just missed the airship. It won't be back for another three bells." Rubhi stared at the woman incredulously, "What?! I can't wait that long! Call them back! They need me!"
"Miss, I need you to calm down! I can't call them back. You have to either wait, or walk to Gridania. It's your choice."
Rubhi gritted her teeth, almost ready to tear her apart for letting the airship leave without her. She finally attempted to calm herself down and rationalize things again, reminding herself that it isn't the woman's fault. "Fine, I'll take a ticket then and wait."
As she sat on one of the stone slabs Ul'dah called benches, a million worries was racing through her head, and the wrongness continued to prevail, as did the ache in her chest. Her heart continued to cry out. For what, she still didn't know...but her fears told her she might.
It felt like eternity before the airship finally returned from Limsa Lominsa. Like an impatient child, Rubhi stood waiting at the departure gate until she was let through, then stood by impatiently while they prepped the airship for departure once more.
"Come on, come on!" she thought to herself as though the crew was taking far too long to get the airship ready for the next flight. The only thing stopping her from jumping on the airship's wheel was the simple fact that she didn't know how to drive an airship at all. All she could do was wait, and that made her feel helpless - a feeling she hated with all her might.
Everything was a waiting game, first waiting for the airship to return, then the preparations for the next flight, and now the flight itself. Everything second was time she didn't have, nor time her tribe had. As she waited for the airship to arrive in Gridania, she continued to fret and worry, and it felt like the ache and the wrongness continued to get worse. After what seemed like another eternity, which was really only about three more bells, Rubhi disembarked from the airship at Gridania. Rushing as best as she could, she blew through the Carline Canopy in search of the Chocobokeep.
She probably paid a little too much for a charter chocobo, but it didn't matter. Gil was unimportant in light of this wrongness that continued to haunt Rubhi. Pressing to go right away, she urged the chocobo onward to the Northern Shroud, past Fallgourd Float until the chocobo could go no further and had to return home.
By then, the trees had begun to give way to the snows of the Coerthas Highlands. Before the Calamity, the Highlands were a beautiful place to live, with endless plains as far as the eye could see. Now it was little more than a barren, cold wasteland of snow and ice. From here, she had to go it alone. Of course, this was familiar territory to Rubhi, and she was certain she could make it back to the Terrorspin Clan on her own. Equipped with a heavy furred cloak, heavy gloves and boots, she started for the mountains where she knew she would find her people.
Or so she thought...
She neared one of the many entrances to the endless subterranean tunnels in which the Terrorspines lived, and she suddenly stopped. The wrongness was stronger than ever, and the aching in her chest made her feel as though she might collapse from cardiac arrest at any moment. Her heart was throbbing from the pain she knew she was about to experience. It wasn't any physical pain, for that she could endure. This was mental and emotional pain.
Rubhi knew what she would find in those caves, yet she had to see anyway. At this point, instinct took over, and she began to assess the surroundings outside the entrance to a rather large cavern. The snow was incredibly disturbing, almost like an army had march through there. The prints left behind, however, were much too large to have been made by Ishgardians, not even local wildlife, not even the supposed Dravanians - heretics as Ishgard called them. These were far larger.
Rubhi's heart sank as she realized they led into the caves, and she had no choice but to follow. The scene she discovered inside was something one would have found in the worst of nightmares. There was blood everywhere, laddening the lifeless bodies of her kin. She was just barely on the threshold of the gruesome sight, and she already fell to her knees, her face twisting into indescribable grief and pain at the sight of her fallen brothers and sisters. She wanted to scream with all her might. She wanted to end the world around her, bring it to nothingness. She could do neither, however - the former for fear of her own life. The Behemoths might still be around. The latter was simply because she had not the power to do so.
Instead, there she languished and silently wept for her slain kin, having fallen to her hands and knees, her shoulders shaking from sobbing as silently as she possibly could. Never before had she experienced such grief and loss. Yet, she had to somehow continue on. There may be survivors, after all.
After a long moment of weakness, she finally managed to steel herself once more and get back up to her feet. She had to keep going and search for anyone left alive. She delved deeper into the caverns, but, no matter how much further in she went, it was all the same thing. The wreak of death hung in the air so thick that it was almost palpable, and it didn't end. Her hopes were crushed when she finally found the remains of her immediate family. Her brother, her matron, and her father. All of them died fighting.
She had finally had enough and returned to the entrance from whence she came. She couldn't keep going anymore with her mind overwhelmed with grief, sadness...and then hatred. Hatred for the man who caused this. The Keeper whose face was unusually marked. The exile from the Coeurlclaws.
Oh, yes, she would rip out every bit of truth she could from the Coeurlclaws if she would have the chance. But first, she had to leave this place. There were too many bodies for her to bury on her own, too many before the Behemoths would surely return to add Rubhi's own life to the fate of so many others. She wanted to hate the Behemoths as much as she did the Marked One, but she came to the realization that they only reacted as she would have were she in their position. If one of your young was stolen from her, she would lash out at any and everyone she could until the youngling was returned to her.
No, the hate had to be directed solely at the Marked One, the Keeper of the Moon with the darkest skin she'd ever seen, with half his face even darker still, like he were purposefully marked.
She will find him, and she will visit upon him the very pain that was visited upon the entirety of her clan.
And so, with a still aching heart, but one now filled with hatred and revenge instead of sorrow, Rubhi ventured to return to Ul'dah where she had lost the scent of the interloper.
As sole survivor of the Terrorspine Clan, vengeance was her right....and it will be fulfilled...
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((And that's all I have so far. Hope you enjoyed reading it!))