Spoiler
Act 1: Crystal Unclear

Chapter 1

"Mmyes, you're here for the job, I take it?" A plump lalafell attempted to peer down his nose at the blonde miqo'te sat opposite his ornately carved desk, although the height difference made his efforts appear more amusing than intimidating. "A-aye, sir. What do ye need doin'...?" He shuffled about some papers and pulled one from the pile. "All the details are here, you'll find. Sign your name at the end and we can get started. And remember, strict confidentiality. Anything less will result in termination." His deep brown eyes bore holes into her and she flinched despite herself. "O-o'course, sir, ye won't be dis'pointed none." He passed over the long parchment, covered completely in very small, fine print. She took a shaky breath as she skimmed over it. The tiny words swam before her eyes; there was no way she was going to read all of this now. Shrugging, she reached for the quill perched next to her new employer, signed her name in a hurried mess and passed it back to him.

"Very good, In--... What is this?" He frowned at her, little mouth pursed like he'd sucked on a lemon. "I-inarah, sir, sorry, sir..." The lalafell shook his head and tutted quietly. "I hope your other abilities make up for your lack in penmanship," he snorted and turned his attention to a ledger hidden under the copious parchments. After a few moments of awkward silence, he looked up with a glare. "Why are you still here?" Inarah let out an involuntary squeak of shock and scurried out of the room.

SpoilerChapter 2

Dusk had just fallen in Limsa Lominsa, casting dark shadows across the city as street lamps flickered to life. Two Seekers quietly nursed their pints in the Drowning Wench, the male leaning back with one arm resting across the chair languidly and the female sitting prim and proper, fingers curled protectively around her tankard. He leaned forward, not looking directly at her, as he whispered. "S' lookin' like s' jus' gonna be us, 'Narah. Y' sure, uhh... sure y' read the contract right?" Inarah nodded simply as she folded a piece of parchment into one of her many pockets. "A-ah did th'best ah could, Kilid," she whispered back, a hint of defensiveness tingeing her tone. "Ah got faith in y'!" Kilid responded, quickly, and with his most winning smile. "Should we give it a few more, see what 'appens, anyway?"

Inarah nodded again and the two kept their vigil until the stars twinkled brightly in the indigo sky. As if she had been waiting for a cue, the blonde miqo'te abruptly leant back and cracked her knuckles. "Ye...fancy goin' fer a walk then?" Kilid's ears wilted and he cast a longing glance at his mostly untouched pint. "Ah reckon so, aye. So, who we lookin' fer?" Inarah rose to her feet and immediately strode off to the north without so much as a glance over her shoulder. "A-ain't lookin' fer n-nobody. Jus' fancied a walk...round th'city, is all."

He trotted after her and the pair came up to the bridge leading to the Marauders' Guild. Inarah shot him a frown as her ears flattened, and hissed through her teeth, "Ye gotta keep yer voice down if'n we're t'get th'drop on 'im..." Kilid blinked with surprise, seemingly thrown by her change in demeanour. "Wha'? Oh, aye. Ah meant, uhh... yer dream fella! Aye, that." She laughed a light, false laugh and they joked about her finding her soulmate until a roegadyn male hurried by them towards the Bismarck, hefting a large sack over his shoulder.

Inarah continued with her smiles and laughter whilst he passed, but her ears immediately swung back towards the man bustling along. As his footsteps faded, she narrowed her eyes. "Mebbe we should get somethin' t'eat, ye reckon?" Kilid nodded and they set off at a leisurely pace to the restaurant.

Ordering two glasses of water, much to the waitress's annoyance, the pair took up seats near their target. The roegadyn drummed his thick fingers along his table with the sack dumped in the chair next to him. He rudely ordered a meal from the waitress, adding, "An' make it quick," which sent the petite hyur off in a huff. Watching this with some amusement, Kilid rolled his eyes and lowered his voice to avoid carrying too far. "Ah reckon someone's gonna be gettin' somethin' extra added t' their order, straight from the chef." Inarah smiled, nodded and laughed, leaning forward in her chair as if enthralled by whatever her partner was saying. Her flicking ears and swishing tail, however, said otherwise.

Their mark picked up the sack as he waited, rifling through it quickly over and over, until the waitress arrived. He hurriedly tied it shut and slammed a fist down whilst waiting for her to serve the plate of food and tankard of ale. "Enjoy your meal, sir," she snorted and turned on her heel. The miqo'te continued to talk an awful lot about nothing whilst he scoffed his meal and washed it down quickly with ale. With a grunt, he practically threw down a small bag of gil and hefted the sack over his shoulder again, taking off in quick strides.

Kilid and Inarah nodded once to each other and rose to their feet. The male Seeker slipped a pair of fingers into the small pouch at his waist, fishing out a coin and flicking it towards the short-tempered waitress. "Thanks f' the water," he offered with a polite smile as the pair made off to tail the roegadyn to the southern city gate.

They made their way along the crude path leading away from the city without incident. As they approached the bridge to Moraby Drydocks, Inarah narrowed her eyes and sniffed the air. With a swift tug on Kilid's shoulder, she paused. He turned his head back and peered at her questioningly. "'e went round...lost 'is scent an' no way 'e'd get through them Yellabellies wivout 'assle," she whispered through the side of her mouth. The male couldn't deny that. "So, what're we gonna do now?" His partner scanned the bridge and cliffs on either side. "Reckon we should jus' cross th'bridge an' try an' catch 'is scent 'gain..."

Casually walking past the Yellowjackets stationed at numerous points on the bridge with a polite nod, they reached the other side and resumed their chase in earnest. Inarah glanced around and knelt down to touch the dirt, passing her fingers over a faint footprint. "Big foot 'ere...an' ah smell somethin' 'gain." Kilid's attention wandered all about, seemingly quite bored by the proceedings. His tail, however, remained half-raised and semi-bristled, ears pricked high. "There. Let's go," the female grunted as she pointed to a spot in the distance. Their mark was further down the path, sprinting as fast as his burly legs could carry him towards Candlekeep Quay.

Setting up in wait near one of the many enormous boulders dotting the landscape, the pair watched the roegadyn bustle up to the coast, where a small boat guarded by three men was docked a short distance from the Quay proper. The Seekers' target approached the dinghy and, through the gentle haze that had settled in from the sea, it appeared all four of them were talking.

"All me gil t' know what they're sayin'. Well... maybe not all. Or even that much, ah guess," Kilid mused quietly. His partner squinted and raised a finger to point to the men. "Ey, look there...dun look like they're gettin' on..." The roegadyn had begun gesturing angrily; the three others seemed rather amused at first, but soon weapons were drawn. One lunged forward and fists began to fly. "...let's get down there, fast!" Inarah made a move to leap into action but the male's heavy hand pulled down her shoulder. She sat back down, surprised, with no small measure of annoyance written on her features and ears flattening. "We ain't goin' nowhere! S'posed t' tail 'im, not leap t' 'is rescue. 'specially not 'gainst them odds, they look like they know 'ow t' use them swords." The blonde miqo'te just shook her head at Kilid's remark. "Who said anythin' bout rescuin' 'im?" she scoffed and leapt to her feet. Kilid hesitated for a moment before following her down to hide behind a closer boulder.

As they approached, the roegadyn fell face down on the ground. One of the other men seemed injured, limping as he moved to pick up the sack. Some fevered whispering was exchanged as the pair plotted their next move. With a curt nod to Kilid, Inarah stalked through the shadows up behind the injured man. He shortly fell to the ground as well, the tip of a dagger glinting in the dim starlight as it protruded from his chest. She ducked as the other two men shouted and lunged for her, sidestepping out of their way and dancing circles round them.

Kilid bellowed a warcry, perhaps needlessly, but he seemed to enjoy it all the same. He dashed across the short distance at an impressive rate of knots with axe held back behind his body and ready to swing at the first poor sod to get in his way. Whilst he charged in, the men followed Inarah round in a rather comical manner, and she smirked with amusement as she easily twirled and danced out of reach. After some taunting, she wheeled back on one and her blades found their way into his stomach. The other gave up on the whirling dervish and lunged for Kilid.

The male Seeker didn't so much as bat an eyelid, his axe flashing through the air in a silvery arc that, after a brief 'thnk-squelch', turned into a silvery-red arc, and a crimson fountain followed the third man's head through the air. In his enthusiasm, he carried on a bit too far over the coastline and disappeared from sight with a yelp and a loud splash. Inarah wiped her blades quickly on the grass, chuckling at Kilid's dunk in the sea, and immediately rifled through the clothing of the corpses.

She pocketed several bags of coin and turned her attention to the roegadyn's possessions. With a curious tilt of her head, she dug her hand into the large sack and pulled it back out, crystals slipping through her fingers with a merry tinkling sound. Kilid emerged from the water, shivering and dripping but still looking quite unphased by the bloodshed, his attention more on the crystals in his partner's hands. "Ah dunno much bout this...but ain't this odd?..." Inarah looked up to him questioningly. "Ah don't think so, y' listen t' some'ah the merchants in Limsa, they pay gil by the sackload fer precious gems an' stones, eh? Ah reckon we done good, stoppin' a thief. Less competition!" The female didn't seem convinced, narrowing her eyes as she tied the sack shut with swish of her tail. "Aye...mebbe. Let's...let's jus' get this back, s'pose..."

The muscular male Seeker grabbed the neck of the sack in one hand, casually attempting to haul it up over his shoulder in one smooth motion. Upon hefting it less than a fulm from the ground, he listed to one side and staggered off a few paces. With a second attempt, more careful this time, he managed to haul the sack awkwardly over his shoulder. "Ah wish ah were a Roe, round 'bout now." Inarah hid a smirk behind her hand as she looked away from Kilid.

"Let's get goin' then."

Screenshots, sans context!

SpoilerChapter 3

"...right, an' we'll be keepin' watch from th'shadows like, so don't y' worry." Kilid flashed a dazzling, confident grin at the white maned elezen stood before the carriage outside Limsa Lominsa's city gates. She didn't look entirely convinced, given the dour expression dragging down her features, but nodded and returned to the chocobos squawking in their harnesses.

Inarah was having a quiet conversation with Xivrez'to, a Keeper male they had recently employed, about whether clouds are edible. As the female miqo'te tilted her head with confusion at his odd remarks, Helia and P'etri appeared over the hill. The dark haired Keeper, finely dressed in long robes, moved with a bearing befitting royalty, whilst P'etri bounced along behind her, the Seeker's long blonde dreadlocks whipping about in the warm sea breeze. "O-oh, ye came!" Inarah greeted them warmly. She and Kilid had met the friendly pair the previous evening as they were negotiating today's contract. Worried that the Jackals' plan to make the caravan appear unguarded would blow up in their faces, Helia had insisted that she and her partner accompany them. "Of course we did," P'etri replied with a beaming smile.

Kilid finally turned away from the elezen to the small crowd of people assembled before him. "Y' all ready then?" A choir of assents later and the carriage was creaking along the cobbled path north towards Camp Bronze Lake.

Inarah sat hidden in the back of the carriage, muscles tense and ears flicking about nervously. Helia casually called from the front, next to the driver. "Relax. There's nothing to worry about. We're on a main road." The blonde miqo'te sighed and settled onto the box of goods she was perched upon. "A-alright...so where'd ye say yer from then...?"

The pair chatted away amiably whilst the rest of the entourage kept a brisk pace about half a malm ahead. Up ahead, the trio of ambush-ambushers were passing the journey with talk about, of all things, windmills. After Xivrez'to's excited exclamation about the size of the local birdlife ("Dodo!"), their journey along the road north led them past the monumental 'mills, and a number of docile Goobbue. Given Xivrez'to's... "unusual" nature, eventually the combination of questions and explanations about both windmills, and goobbue, along with P'etri's anecdotal story about someone she once knew living in one or the other, culminated in a very puzzled Kilid vocalising the question of just -why- anyone would want to turn a goobbue into a house.

Until his dying day, this would remain one of the most surreal conversations Kilid had ever participated in.

Onwards they travelled however, the confusion of goobbue windmill housing proving to be nothing more than a speed-bump on their journey north. Unlike the following caravan, the trio -could- cross the bridge between southern La Noscea, and Wineport, making their coming plan all the easier to achieve. Despite an unfortunate incident involving the swallowing of a Midge or three by Kilid, and a face full of midge swarm by P'etri, their journey North, then doubling back around the cliffs, remained uneventful. Boring, almost! If there was an ambush laying in wait, there was no sign of it just yet, and so the three settled down in the shade of a great tree to wait, and discuss today's relevant political and philosophical topics.

Such as what it would be like to fly. Not using an airship, but to -fly-, man! And daring each other to try and ride one of the wild couerl they saw on their travels. Important topics...

The driver came to a halt abruptly when they reached the rickety bridge leading up to Wineport. "W-what's wrong?" Inarah immediately leant out the back of the carriage and scanned the terrain. "The bridge is too narrow. We're going round the long way," came the terse reply. A flick of the reins and the chocobos trotted off deeper into the jungle.

They hadn't travelled far when a faint whistling rung through Inarah's ears, followed by the death squawks of both chocobos. "We're under attack!" Helia cried, pulling out her engraved staff as the elezen dove into the back to huddle behind a crate. The female Seeker was silent as she peered out from the back. Archers on either side of the carriage and a handful of men with axes were charging down a small knoll towards them. Helia began chanting and raised the staff high into the air as flames circled around her head, whilst Inarah dropped down onto the ground quietly with a dagger in each hand.

Quite oblivious to the assault happening just out of earshot, the trio hiding in the shade of the tree continued their deep, meaningful conversation about how it would be -really- nice to have something to eat right now...

Weaving this way and that, Inarah's blades were a confusing blur of steel as she worked her way about behind one of the surprised axe-wielding roegadyn and promptly embedded both blades hilt-deep into the small of his back, bringing forth a roar of pain from the falling roe. Surprised, and now somewhat cautious of the sweet-looking miqo'te that so effortlessly laid low one of his comrades, the nearest of the remaining three swings about, axe raised in a defensive posture to hold off the unexpected assailant, for his archer 'friends' to finish off.

Things never work out as we want, though.

While one of the archers did, indeed, manage to score a grazing blow across one of Inarah's shoulders, the other in his panic, embeds his arrow deep into the arm of the roegadyn stood next to her, bringing forth an enraged yell of pain from yet another of the ambushers! Re-prioritising her targets, Inarah's spritely dance about the axe-wielder turns into a fully-fledged sprint, dodging and weaving, towards the two archers further along the path, leaving Helia alone atop the drivers bench behind...

Not that this seems to phase the lone Keeper much! Almost negligibly, she waves her faintly glowing staff, forming a barrier about herself that deflects the pair of arrows coming from the opposite path to Inarah. Oddly, no further arrows seem to come, although far from leaving her safe this does create something of a problem, in the shape of two large, burly roegadyn that broke away from the pair that challenged Inarah.

A gesture of her hand, a sweep of that staff, and the ill-prepared assault staggers to something of a standstill as a wave of ice washed out over the pair, and the kneeling roegadyn with the arrow lodged in his arm. Of the three, only the arrow-impaled roe remains held for long however, the charging pair stumbling about the ice, each other and the dead chocobos with their hands seemingly frozen solid to the crystallised axes, but still intent on drawing blood from the unimposing, lone Keeper.

In unison, two glittering, ice-sheathed axes swing for Helia's body, and as one, the pair of axes shatter like glass against the pulsing, glowing staff in her hands. The pair, already unbalanced and in pain beyond the understanding of most men and women, were carried past Helia by their own momentum. Tripping at last over one of the fallen chocobo, they remained on the ground, clutching crystallised hands to their chests and groaning in apparent agony.

Unheard by the distant trio, who were back to goading one another to try and mount one of the couerl, the fight on the far side of the ravine played out for the most part, unnoticed until the second roar of pain, and the roar of the rush of ice. Curious and slightly fearful as to quite -what- was causing those sounds, Xivrez'to and Kilid poked their heads about either side of the large, ancient tree.

And promptly pulled them back in again as the wood of the tree suddenly found itself peppered with arrows, one either side, and worryingly close to hitting each of the miqo'te. A momentary confab between all three led to them concluding, bravely, that it was best to send P'etri out first as a lead ("Ladies first", Kilid uttered with a small bow, gesturing her onwards). The method behind the madness of charging out headfirst before at least two archers being that P'etri seemed rather confident about her ability to deflect arrows, which neither of the two males felt it prudent to question at the time.

All for naught, it seems. The two archers that had thus far remained hidden chose this moment to turn tail and flee from the failed ambush, as...

With one of the four archers laying dead at her feet (this one a miqo'te), and the other (a hyur, no less) pressed up against the rock with a hand pressed tightly to the gash across his gut, Inarah turned tail (literally) and rushed back to rejoin Helia...

Arriving with all the effect (and timing) of the cavalry in just about any film ever, P'etri, Xivrez'to and Kilid arrive at the carriage just in time to bear witness to Helia almost lazily thrusting her staff out to one side. From the tip, a ball of lightning that flies straight along the path results in a cringe-worthy crackling sound, and a high-pitched scream accompanying the sight of another hyur, this one smoldering, falling head-first into the Ravine.

"Well... curses. I was hoping to get both..." muttered the dark-haired Keeper, Helia, to somewhat awed stares from at least one of the group assembled back at the caravan. The best thing that could be said for the cleanup after, is that it was swift. The two roegadyn in possession of frozen hands were forced into a deep sleep, while the kneeling Roe with the arrow in his arm remained safely entombed (mostly) in ice. Of the archers... well, two were dead, but leaving loose ends in this sort of situation was agreed to be a bad thing. Frustratingly, the injured Archer had managed to find the strength to try and 'flee', albeit rather slowly and leaving an easily followable path.

Xivrez'to offered to go after that particular prey, and so sauntered off at a leisurely jog. Rather more urgently, P'etri volunteered to chase down the remaining archer, which looked to be the only elezen of this particular group of bandits, and so set off at an impressive pace after him.

Sadly, it seems no-one ever taught P'etri not to play with her food. (Xivrez'to seems to have also escaped from this sage piece of advice).

After a masterful display of dodging arrows (Including, quite literally, stepping on one as it passed beneath her in mid-leap), and perhaps unnecessarily breaking several fingers by punching the elezen's hand as he tried swinging a long sword at her... and definitely very much unnecessarily breaking several ribs with a suplex, P'etri returned to the group all but dragging the elezen by an arm across her shoulders.

Xivrez'to's approach to apprehending a target, while far different in approach to Petri's, turned out to be just as effective. Offering the hyur a peaceful solution and, surprisingly, even medical aid, the hyur's response was to bare his teeth, draw a dagger, and lunge for the peaceful, somewhat spaced-out Keeper, who just as casually, stepped to one side, brushing the blade away without a care in the world. More words were exchanged, Xivrez'to recommending that perhaps the hyur should think about a career change. Maybe become a baker. Everyone loves bakers, right?

More snarling from the hyur, perhaps predictably. This time, however, his wild slash with the blade, instead of being turned aside, is caught by the Keeper, who promptly uppercuts the already wounded hyur with enough force to shatter teeth and send him sprawling on the ground.

Yet another of the attempted escapees has to be dragged back... such is the danger of this line of work, it seems.

While P'etri and Xivrez'to are off making sport of their respective escapees, Inarah's offer of moving on ahead to Wineport is, perhaps a little grudgingly, accepted by Kilid, who by this point is sat on the drivers bench, quite bored out of his mind and pointedly ignoring the damp smell coming from the back of the carriage, where the Elezen driver continues to hide.

Helia, however, makes much more productive use of her time, expressing her displeasure with the idea that eight armed men would be spared to assault a simple, sole caravan. Stepping on through into the back of the carriage, Kilid gives into curiosity and pokes his head in after her, watching with a mild interest as she breaks open first one crate (Silks. Lots and lots of bolts of silk), and another (Books. Many many books. All hand-written.), and another, the smallest of the seven or eight contained within... seemingly more books.

An oddly smooth, level, flat layer of books that, when she tried to prise one free, ended up shifting the entire layer of elaborately painted wood. With Kilid's help, the cover hiding the true contents of the crate was pulled free, and... crystals. So many crystals. Shards, even clusters poking through in places!

This, of course, wasn't what either Helia nor Kilid were -quite- expecting, and so followed some awkward questions at about the time that Inarah returned, atop one of the two chocobos and in the company of two Yellowjackets, and more awkward questions ensued, as Kilid led one of the two Yellowjackets aside to explain just what, precisely, had happened to the best of his ability while the other bound and secured the surviving bandits in the carriage...

Having sufficiently explained... sort of, kinda... maybe, the events to the remaining Yellowjacket, they set off after their companion riding the carriage, after helping affix the fresh chocobo to the harnesses of the fallen Gridanian birds.

Which left... the inevitable goodbyes! Not that these sorts of goodbyes last, but... it's always something of a come down, after such an action-packed few bells. There's always work to be done, however, and so having seen off P'etri and Helia, and bidding adieu to Xivrez'to, Inarah and Kilid departed on foot for Wineport. They had a carriage to deliver, and no group of Yellowjackets was going to stand in the way of -that-! Not with Kilid's winning smile and Inarah's batting lashes...

Spoiler

SpoilerChapter 4

Yukiki Yuki, the lalafell who hired Jackal & Hide for the Camp Bronze Lake escort, turned to them again for aid. With only a short letter to go on, asking that they meet her in Horizon with the specific request that they be as discreet as possible, the company made their way to Thanalan.

Having never been outside of La Noscea before, Kilid was grateful to Helia and P'etri for leading him, Myra and Xivrez'to to Horizon. "Looks jus' like Vesper. But less sea," he remarked with a shrug and scanned the village for their client. Yukiki was lurking in the shadows in a hooded robe; one would assume she was trying to look inconspicuous but her utter lack of subtlety merely made it that much easier for Kilid to find her.

After introductions and more than a few shrill demands that they keep quiet, Yukiki briefly explained the situation. A former business partner had entrusted the Bronze Lake shipment to her with the promise that it would help her break into the Limsan markets. She claimed that it was her partner, not herself, who was smuggling crystals and she needed their help to escape from law enforcement to her safe house in Golden Bazaar. Dubious glances were shared amongst the Jackal employees and friends; Helia in particular didn't believe it for a second, although she confessed her intense dislike for greedy Ul'dahns did make her opinion biased.

Kilid was unsure whether to believe this ill-tempered lalafell himself, but he trusted Inarah's judgment in accepting the job, and ordered everyone to move out. Before they set off, Helia cast a glamour on Yukiki to alter her appearance and allow them to travel without trouble from the authorities.

Aside from Xivrez'to's eccentric comments, the journey was without incident. The troupe arrived in Golden Bazaar and entered Yukiki's safe house. She tried to usher them on their way but Kilid and Helia demanded more detailed answers about her predicament.

With a heavy sigh, she gave them the truth: Papushasu, her former business partner, was also her former lover. He had indeed promised to help her break into new markets and, blinded by love, she didn't think twice about it and only gave the contents a cursory check before sending the caravan on its way. When the Yellowjackets questioned her about the crystals, all documentation proving that it was he and not she who had arranged the shipment vanished. She escaped arrest and went on the lam.

The company's attitude towards Yukiki softened upon hearing this and they offered their assistance in bringing the true culprit to justice - provided their client could pay, of course. She accepted and plans were soon set in motion to find evidence of her innocence, or proof of Papushasu's guilt; either way, Jackal & Hide had their work cut out for them.

Yukiki finally shooed the vagrants, as she called them, out and on their way. "Ah really need t' 'ave a word with 'Narah," Kilid sighed as he led the others back to Limsa Lominsa.