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Final Verdict Part 1
Kahkol Tribe refugee camp, Mor Dhona
“I’m starting to see why Xaela tribes fought each other all the time. Words don’t work on some people. They think and uh… Assume, but ignore or miss the truth. Then they do things because of those false things they believe, and end up being on the wrong side.†Qara spoke as she wrestled with the best way to phrase her thoughts.
Eorzean common was not her first language, and Xaelic was a very different tongue. She was becoming fluent, but complex ideas were still hard for her to articulate. A silence fell upon her and Tsenkher, her grandmother, as eerie Mor Dhona wind blew outside the makeshift yurt they sat in.
Tsenkher continued to idly mix paint in a ceramic bowl as she sat cross-legged on layers of fur and rug matting. “Welcome to politics, Qaratai.â€
Qara let out a sigh to that. “I wanted to help, but most of the time, I didn’t know what to say. Chakha did some bad things. Things that could hurt entire tribes if we were back home. I had to focus on that. After saving Gloam, nothing else mattered… But we were caught in these politics. We tried to trust someone we shouldn’t have… Zanzan is… He is bad at knowing who to trust.â€
“Not surprising for a boy who paints green over everything.†Tsenkher drawled.
“Yes, but, he also helped with these politics more than anyone else. He fixed as much as he could. He fixed part of what others broke.†Qara responded and tilted her head back. She sat adjacent to her grandmother, and kept her gaze wandering about the inside of the candlelit yurt. She was reflecting and trying to organize jumbled thoughts. What should have been a simple issue after saving Gloam turned into a mess of politics and backstabbing.
“Who is this one you trusted? I assume it was the one you sought to find a solution for Chakha?†Tsenkher asked.
“An Elezen from the Maelstrom named Ojene.“ Qara answered as her voice lowered. She had quickly developed disdain for the woman.
“To be fair, Chakha attacked a member of the Maelstrom? This Jenny Hellfish you spoke of?â€
“Yes.â€
“And she did it serving a different tribe?â€
“Uh, someone from Ul’dah.â€
“That is like an act of war. Can’t expect the enemy she made to forgive that so easily.â€
“It wasn’t to make war. Jenny Hellfish was a privateer… Uh, like a mercenary. That’s what I am now too, I guess. Ojene thought I was an officer of Maelstrom, but not true. I had to sign what they call ‘Letter of Marque’. They have this law called Galadion Accord that means privateers have to work for Maelstrom. But I’m not really Maelstrom.â€
“Sooo, you joined forces with the tribe that your sister wronged?â€
“No I… Ugh.. You don’t... Yes…†Qara’s voice betrayed resignation with that last word.
Tsenkher bobbed her head slowly as she continued to mix more paint. She let out an exhale through her nose as she pondered, or perhaps she was letting Qara’s answer sink in.
“I don’t know who this Ojene is, but she’s not the problem. Don’t talk to her again. Don’t let Zanzan talk to her again. You foolishly tried to trust her, and she fairly refused to help. She had a chance to make you as an ally. She refused. Move on.†She paused and finally turned her gaze to Qara; letting the mixing pestle rest in the paint.
“Chakha should have run away, but she gave herself to them. Can’t change that either. Move on.“ Tsenkher spoke curtly as she verbally weeded-out the distracting parts of Qara’s political mess to get to the main issue.
“They have a right to be angry. Chakha should be punished… But she is my granddaughter, and your sister. For us, accepting her execution is never a fair option.†She sighed as she bit her lower lip and her eyes wandered – a habit that both Qara and her grandmother shared when thinking deeply.
“It makes sense that they want her dead. But you have something to offer for a lesser punishment. Time for you to test if their wisdom can out-weigh their anger… You told me of the battle of Gloam; something I never imagined a Hotgo being part of. We are a people of the grass sea, not the saltwater sea… Yet you Captained a ship that dealt the final blow against that metal monster of the skies… A monster that even the big fleet of Maelstrom didn’t want to face.†She reaches to place her hand on Qara’s shoulder.
“It was like a legend. Those people were going to be destroyed like the Hotgo, but you and your crew saved them from their ‘Dotharl’. I am so proud of you.†She paused as Qara’s gaze averted to hide the sudden surge of tears that began to well in her eyes.
“I do not say this only because I am your emee. I think anyone who does not see what your ship accomplished is blind… Offer that. If the Maelstrom kills your sister, right or wrong, fair or not, there is no way you will stay. They will lose you, your ship and its crew. They will lose a ship that was capable of fighting that sky monster, and stopping it. Tell them you will do the same for them that you did for Gloam if they let your sister live… That is all you can do now.â€
Qara raised her head despite the tears. Why was she crying? She wondered. But the pride had a sting as it returned. She had lost so much of it after Gloam due to all the law-loving bureaucrats that crawled out of the woodwork to judge what they had not been part of.
However, Chakha -was- a criminal. Qara accepted that, but it had been mistaken for ignorance. What Chakha deserved didn’t matter to Qara. Chakha was one of the last Hotgo.
“If they let my sister live, I will send her on the right path. I swear to the spirits. She will spend the rest of her life helping me save people.â€
Redemption mattered, and laws seemed to have no clauses, words or definitions for that.