The Garlean Hyur pressed his forehead against the bars, and his silly leather helmet shifted stupidly on his broad scalp. His smile was vacant, his eyes emptier still. His happiness was an artifact of his stupidity.
"What did you say to me?" He chuckled, his voice failing to realize his false offense.
"I wouldn't normally repeat myself," said D'hein Tia, poking at the the hole through his shoulder and grinning at the feeling of it. His grin was full of intellect, he was sure. His voice, at least, dripped with sincere challenge. "I am a hero of the Garlean Empire and an operative of the Frumentarii. I will be shortly free of this cell."
"Oh, you think so?" The man placed his leather-clad fingers upon the bar, clutched them tight like a puppy's neck. The metal hallways was disappointingly dull. D'hein had hoped for flickering lights and marvels of machination, but it was a jail cell, after all. "Would you like to hear what they're doing to your woman-friend right now?"
"Probably nothing." D'hein volunteered. "Such activities as your tone seeks to imply are not the habit of a well-managed military."
"We're real good at breaking the woman," the bore said slowly. Like the walls, the Garleans D'hein Tia had met were disappointing. Engineers and masters of mechanical magic they were not. He assumed it was an artifact of Ala Mhigo's resistance. "They start by-"
"You are an Ala Mhigan, aren't you?" D'hein said.
"Eh?"
The Tia took his attention away from his shoulder, wiping the blood on his finger off on the blanket next to where he sat on his bunk. The room was otherwise unfurnished, just blue and gray metal. "A collaborator. You an Ala Mhigan collaborating with the Garlean occupiers."
The man smiled, shifted his feet back and forth. He appeared as an indecisive, overweight opo-opo. "Yeah, okay. I'm a traitor. Born of Ala Mhigo. What's it you?"
"It is the source of my great disappointment," answered D'hein, standing and sighing. "You see, one truly acculturated to Garlemald would call themselves first Garlean, and Ala Mhigo only after that. Even among Eorzeans Ala Mhigo is a disreputable and filthy race. That your people do not cast off your ethnicity and allow yourself to be fully claimed by your conquerors is causing you to be a heathen-sort of mongrel. Uninteresting and ugly. Why, I can see how... it... Damn it, Dahl!"
"You're welcome," she said, as the Ala-Mhigan-Garlean's corpse his the metal floor, making a hideous sound with his last breath.
"I wasn't done telling him that he was stupid! You shouldn't stab people who are in the middle of conversations!"
"I didn't stab him," D'ahl said, her lips smiling and her tail swinging around behind her. She held up her bloodied knife, "Just dropped my dagger and the good fellow caught it between his ribs. It's not polite to blame the lady just because the man injured himself in his chivalry." She paced over to the door and began to prod at the lock.
"There's a sort of stiff floppy card thing in one of his pockets." D'hein explained. "It's a magic key. You're looking rather well for a prisoner. What have you been doing?"
As she crouched over the corpse to search it, the sleeves of the very new shirt she wore pulled back to reveal her muscled and very clean arms. "They never got me to the cell. I escaped once we were inside the city and joined the Ala Mhigan resistance. Made use of their facilities and resources, helped them assassinate a few people and free a few hundred slaves." She stood, having found the card, and went to open the cell. "I also managed to supply the resistance with a lot of stolen weaponry and food, and the honored my contributions with a brief feast before we were beset by Garlean hordes. Our victory in that battle set up the Ala Mhigan people with enough force of weight that a number of women and children were able to flee the city to safety."
The door swung open and D'hein stepped out, saying bitterly, "You attended a party without me, D'ahl?"
She nodded, "That is the most important part of what I was saying, yes." Then she pointed her knife in his face, "And I am very angry at you. I'm beginning to think you're not actually a Garlean spy."
"Of course I am. Obviously, though, my contacts have never actually been to Ala Mhigo." He crossed his arms over his chest, and the action caused several drops of blood to shoot from his wounded shoulder and stain the wall.
"And how do you know that?"
"If they had I would be recognized," D'hein stated boldly, "The reports my supervisors in the Agency send to our superiors in the Garlean Empire no doubt glow with many descriptions of my person and accounts of my good work. When we finally do arrive at the location of my overseers, I expect it to be staffed by intelligent person of culture who are well-versed in my exploits and eager to meet me."
"... Okay?"
"Let's go! We'll have to search the other Garlean bases!" D'hein began down the hallway boldly.
D'ahl shook her head, "Sure, let's just tour all of the- hey! Don't go that way! It's guarded!" She chased after him.
"What did you say to me?" He chuckled, his voice failing to realize his false offense.
"I wouldn't normally repeat myself," said D'hein Tia, poking at the the hole through his shoulder and grinning at the feeling of it. His grin was full of intellect, he was sure. His voice, at least, dripped with sincere challenge. "I am a hero of the Garlean Empire and an operative of the Frumentarii. I will be shortly free of this cell."
"Oh, you think so?" The man placed his leather-clad fingers upon the bar, clutched them tight like a puppy's neck. The metal hallways was disappointingly dull. D'hein had hoped for flickering lights and marvels of machination, but it was a jail cell, after all. "Would you like to hear what they're doing to your woman-friend right now?"
"Probably nothing." D'hein volunteered. "Such activities as your tone seeks to imply are not the habit of a well-managed military."
"We're real good at breaking the woman," the bore said slowly. Like the walls, the Garleans D'hein Tia had met were disappointing. Engineers and masters of mechanical magic they were not. He assumed it was an artifact of Ala Mhigo's resistance. "They start by-"
"You are an Ala Mhigan, aren't you?" D'hein said.
"Eh?"
The Tia took his attention away from his shoulder, wiping the blood on his finger off on the blanket next to where he sat on his bunk. The room was otherwise unfurnished, just blue and gray metal. "A collaborator. You an Ala Mhigan collaborating with the Garlean occupiers."
The man smiled, shifted his feet back and forth. He appeared as an indecisive, overweight opo-opo. "Yeah, okay. I'm a traitor. Born of Ala Mhigo. What's it you?"
"It is the source of my great disappointment," answered D'hein, standing and sighing. "You see, one truly acculturated to Garlemald would call themselves first Garlean, and Ala Mhigo only after that. Even among Eorzeans Ala Mhigo is a disreputable and filthy race. That your people do not cast off your ethnicity and allow yourself to be fully claimed by your conquerors is causing you to be a heathen-sort of mongrel. Uninteresting and ugly. Why, I can see how... it... Damn it, Dahl!"
"You're welcome," she said, as the Ala-Mhigan-Garlean's corpse his the metal floor, making a hideous sound with his last breath.
"I wasn't done telling him that he was stupid! You shouldn't stab people who are in the middle of conversations!"
"I didn't stab him," D'ahl said, her lips smiling and her tail swinging around behind her. She held up her bloodied knife, "Just dropped my dagger and the good fellow caught it between his ribs. It's not polite to blame the lady just because the man injured himself in his chivalry." She paced over to the door and began to prod at the lock.
"There's a sort of stiff floppy card thing in one of his pockets." D'hein explained. "It's a magic key. You're looking rather well for a prisoner. What have you been doing?"
As she crouched over the corpse to search it, the sleeves of the very new shirt she wore pulled back to reveal her muscled and very clean arms. "They never got me to the cell. I escaped once we were inside the city and joined the Ala Mhigan resistance. Made use of their facilities and resources, helped them assassinate a few people and free a few hundred slaves." She stood, having found the card, and went to open the cell. "I also managed to supply the resistance with a lot of stolen weaponry and food, and the honored my contributions with a brief feast before we were beset by Garlean hordes. Our victory in that battle set up the Ala Mhigan people with enough force of weight that a number of women and children were able to flee the city to safety."
The door swung open and D'hein stepped out, saying bitterly, "You attended a party without me, D'ahl?"
She nodded, "That is the most important part of what I was saying, yes." Then she pointed her knife in his face, "And I am very angry at you. I'm beginning to think you're not actually a Garlean spy."
"Of course I am. Obviously, though, my contacts have never actually been to Ala Mhigo." He crossed his arms over his chest, and the action caused several drops of blood to shoot from his wounded shoulder and stain the wall.
"And how do you know that?"
"If they had I would be recognized," D'hein stated boldly, "The reports my supervisors in the Agency send to our superiors in the Garlean Empire no doubt glow with many descriptions of my person and accounts of my good work. When we finally do arrive at the location of my overseers, I expect it to be staffed by intelligent person of culture who are well-versed in my exploits and eager to meet me."
"... Okay?"
"Let's go! We'll have to search the other Garlean bases!" D'hein began down the hallway boldly.
D'ahl shook her head, "Sure, let's just tour all of the- hey! Don't go that way! It's guarded!" She chased after him.
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