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A Tale of Tregardes

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Tregarde Tregarde Find all posts by this user Junior Member Posts:12 Joined:Jan 2018 Server:Mateus Reputation: 1 Timezone:UTC-8 RE: A Tale of Tregardes | #4 01-31-2018, 11:20 AM (This post was last modified: 02-08-2018, 11:11 AM by Tregarde.) But it was not their last meal with us, hot or otherwise. While Ludja had been perusing the markets she heard how a noble’s caravan was coming through and would arrive early evening. But she waited till they had secured their room to mention this. A shrewd mind lurked in there, for I surely would have rented the room to the noble or retainers otherwise. They retired to the room, only to emerge a bell later when the caravan arrived. All had changed, the sisters dressed in a way that matched Ludja from earlier, and the Hyur even more colorful than before. Then the magic started. It was quickly apparent they had indeed grown up with an entertaining troupe. Ludja danced with a sensuous grace; sashes, veils, and beaded trim accentuating her every move. The silver and lapis necklace glittered around her neck. Moire had a mandolin and a melodious voice to go with it. Katarina provided a steady beat on an improvised drum. Not quite the musician of her sister, nor the dancer of her cousin, but still quite competent, and when she wasn’t busy being ‘the responsible one’ of the trio she could sport a wicked sense of humor. My suspicion of Katarina’s other role in the group was proven correct when she handily subdued a retainer who had a couple drinks too many and wanted to get a little too touchy with Ludja. When things started to wind down Moire switched from song to telling an epic tale of heroes in ages past. It was a fine way to end the evening, and by the time the trio went to their bed they had amassed a fair stash of coins. They also left a few disappointed faces that none of the ladies had invited anyone to join them. Ludja’s insistence for a room made a lot more sense then, not just for privacy, but also because they could bar the door to prevent anyone from trying to get a little extra ‘entertainment.’ The trio stayed to rest and plan their next move. The money they made was enough so they would be quite comfortable. A trade caravan was scheduled to go by in a couple days, with bandit and beast tribe activity of late there was a good chance they could get hired as freelance guards. The next couple nights weren’t as lively as that first, but there also weren’t any passing nobles to entertain. As they had planned, when the trade caravan stopped to rest, they got hired on. The caravan was going to push on to the next town, thus they were only staying a bell, which was enough time for a good meal. As I brought the ladies their lunches I overheard Ludja asking the others, “and if he’s not there, then what?” “Then we continue on. You know that,” Katarina said, then gave a thanks when I set down their meal. Ludja shook her head. “You’ve already covered half of Eorzea.” “We found you,” Moire replied. “Yeah, and I only made it because my parents tossed me on that chocobo and made it run, no one else was as lucky. You have to start facing that we’re it, we’re the last.” “I’m not ready to give up yet,” Moire said with determination. “Nor I,” said Katarina. “Maybe we’re the last, maybe not. We know the chances of finding any others are slim. But what else are we going to do?” Ludja muttered a curse under her breath before she replied. “Settle. Start anew. It won’t be the same, but we’ve done pretty good so far. Even before we found each other. But together...” Ludja trailed off with a wistful smile. “Together, what, we’ll just keep running away again?” Ludja frowned, but Katarina continued before she could reply. “You’ve seen what’s going on. Beast tribes are rising, if rumors are true they’re even summoning Primals again. Garleans are being spotted everywhere. About the only thing missing is a moon about to drop on us.” “And what did you expect us to do? We were singers and dancers, not fighters.” “That’s a load of dung. We were both. We had to fight off bandits and the occasional beast tribe somehow.” “Kat...” Ludja pleaded. “We had to protect ourselves. Sure, the three of us were kids at the time,” I’d learned earlier the sisters were 13 and Ludja 14 when the Calamity happened, “we’re not kids anymore, and since that day we’ve all done what we had to, to survive.” Ludja humphed and rested her chin in her hand. “You can be really bloody annoying when you make sense.” “Ain’t that the truth,” Moire said while rolling her eyes in an exaggerated manner, trying to lighten the mood. It worked, I saw Katarina’s expression grow a little less stern. “But she’s right. I was already pretty decent with a bow, you could make with some basic finger wiggles,” Moire did a comical imitation of someone casting a spell, “and Kat here, well, breaking things was about the only thing she’s good at so I guess she had to do something with it.” Katarina elbowed her sister, “brat.” “I guess the point is, we weren’t exactly helpless then, and we sure as hell are a lot less helpless now.” Ludja ran her hand across her face. “Alright, fine, so we aren’t helpless. But that doesn’t mean we have to run off and join a Grand Company.” She paused a moment while she looked at Katarina’s expression. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding...” Katarina shrugged. “It’s not out of the question.” “Grand Companies get people killed! Hells, even free companies do. Do you have any idea how many never made it back from Cartenau? For that matter, how many never got that far?” “Yeah, I do,” Katarina nodded once, then leaned back and crossed her arms with a resigned expression. “But I don’t think I can sit this out. Not this time.” Ludja muttered a curse while looking towards the heavens, then looked to Moire, “and what do you think?” “Where Kat goes, I go.” “That’s not much of an answer,” Ludja replied sardonically. “Maybe not to you, but it’s my answer.” Moire leaned forward towards Ludja, “Truth is, I’ve been thinking pretty much the same for a while. Besides, just think about it, all our lives we’ve sang and told stories of heroes and the deeds they performed - now we have a chance to live it!” She finished with some enthusiasm in her voice. Ludja replied in a much less enthused tone, “you want to be a hero?” “Hey, it would be something new, fun, exciting! And better than shoveling chocodung, which I have done so I know what I’m talking about.” “I’ll reserve judgment on the ‘fun’ part if you don’t mind.” Ludja shook her head while sighing, “I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” Katarina leaned forward. “Why not? It’s really not all that different from what we’re doing now. We just need to find a company that suits us. Truth be told, I kinda missing having people around.” Her tone spoke volumes. They all grew up in a small, tight-knit group, it had to be lonely since the Calamity without them around. Ludja thew her hands up in resignation. “So much for The Traveling Tregardes.” “Oooo, I like that!” Moire chirped then looked to Katarina, “why didn’t I think of that?” “Because it’s actually a good name,” Katarina said in a deadpan, to which Moire replied by sticking her tongue out at her sister. Katarina then turned to Ludja, “I’m not saying we won’t ever settle and try to restart the troupe, just... not yet. There’s things we got to do first.” Ludja asked in a hushed voice, “when, then?” “I don’t know,” Katarina shrugged. “When this crisis is over.” “That could be a while.” “Then it takes a while.” Moire reached forth and placed a hand over Ludja’s. “Lu, we’re family, and nothing can change that. But by blood you may be the last Tregarde. We won’t hold it against you if you want to find somewhere relatively safe and start replenishing our numbers.” “Oh hells,” Ludja rolled her eyes, “do you really see me with a pack of brats hanging on my skirts?” “No,” Moire chuckled, “but now that you put that imagine in my head...” By some unseen signal both Miqo’te sisters glanced at each other with a mischievous glint in their eyes, then dropped to their knees by Ludja, clutched to her skirt, and began chanting, “mommy, mommy, mommy.” “Nooooooooo!” Ludja flailed her arms ineffectually. In a childlike voice Katarina asked, “mommy, are you going to leave us?” She may not have been quite the actor of her sister, but in that moment her tone was gut-wrenching. Moire waved a hand at Katarina, “how can you walk away from this?” “Quite easily,” Ludja said while swatting at the sisters. “Twelve help me, I’m actually starting to think about it.” “Yay!” Moire clapped her hands and both sisters went back to their seats. “I said I’ll think about it. No promises.” “That’s really all we can ask,” Katarina said with a touch of relief. Ludja put an elbow on the table and pulled her meal close. “Assuming I go along with this madness, what’s the plan?” Their dynamic was an odd one. In some matters Katarina took charge, in others it was Ludja. Moire had initiative, but rarely lead anything outside of a song or story. Sometimes they would talk things over first. Katarina scratched an ear in thought before replying, “we’re getting kind of close to Ul’dah. I figure we make our way to the city and see if we can find papa, or any others who may have survived. After that I think I’m ready to stop searching. While there we begin looking into companies and see if any suit us.” “Big city, not going to be easy to find anyone. Lots of competition for our regular business,” Ludja said, referring to song, dance and stories. These three were good, real good, but even they could have a hard time in Ul’dah. “Yeah, not getting my hopes up. But I figure if we don’t find anything we like there we should be able to make enough to get passage to Gridania.” “Oooo, I like Gridania,” Moire said excitedly. “All those trees and forests and animals and stuff!” “Also closer to the Garleans,” Ludja said matter of factly. “What about Limsa?” “Grriiidaaaniiaa,” Moire said while tilting her head sideways. “Nut,” Katarina poked Moire, then looked to Ludja. “If Gridania doesn’t work out. But I’m kinda with Mo, the forests always felt more like home than the seas.” Ludja rubbed her chin. “Lot of traveling. We’ll need to make money. I dunno, could work. Maybe once we pick a spot I’ll hold the fort while two do the adventuring stuff.” “Heh. You can be our housewife,” Moire said jokingly. Ludja said sarcastically, “oh, that’s just what we need, rumors of the three of us in some torrid love affair.” “Who said they had to be mere rumors?” Moire said with a sly grin. The other two looked at Moire with shock, which caused her to wiggle her eyebrows suggestively. The other two turned away and made exasperated sounds. “Oh, gods no!” “Ew, ew, ew!” “That’s just wrong!” “You’re sleeping on the floor!” Moire broke out in laughter. “You should have seen the looks on your faces!” Time was running short so they concentrated on their food. I went back to the other patrons. When it was getting close to time for them to leave I went back to their table to pick up their dishes. The trio thanked me for making them feel welcome and the excellent food. As they shouldered their packs Ludja reached into a pouch, then set a stack of coins on the table by Katarina. She divided the stack and put half back in the pouch. Katarina blinked. “What’s this for?” “Said I’d pay you back.” Ludja winked as she walked to the door. I noticed she was no longer wearing the silver and lapis necklace. “Well, I’ll be damned.” Katarina muttered. “Stop gawking and hurry up, slowpoke,” Moire teased and poked her sister while heading to the door. Katarina smirked and shook her head, then grabbed the coins, waved at me, and made her way out. “Would be nice to get repaid more than once a moon,” she called out as she exited. I had a feeling the next chapter in their lives was just beginning.

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A Tale of Tregardes - by Tregarde - 01-24-2018, 09:36 PM RE: A Tale of Tregardes - by Tregarde - 01-24-2018, 11:10 PM RE: A Tale of Tregardes - by Tregarde - 01-24-2018, 11:23 PM RE: A Tale of Tregardes - by Tregarde - 01-31-2018, 11:20 AM

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