((Woo RP from in-game!))
***
Lingering near K'luha but without anything to say to the crying, injured woman, K'ile frowns awkwardly in K'piru's general direction. His sister has gone quiet as well. These women. There's no winning.
Antimony had indeed gone quiet, for some time now as her thoughts roiled about her grey-haired skull. Every so often, she'd cast a sideways glance towards K'ile and K'luha, but watching them only reminded her of how she did not belong with their family. No matter what K'luha said. That was how it had always been.
K'airos arrived with K'hai to the door and knocked. "We have the food!" she told the door, melodically. K'hai walked behind her, growing dizzy, but he did his best to not show it as he followed K'airos.
K’luha shivered with the knocking of the door and a bright cheery announcement.Â
 Antimony first jumped at the thunking on the door, then blinked dumbly at K'luha and K'ile as though they had caused it, and then processed the voice that had sounded shortly after the knock. The dull expression she'd worn for the past hour or so shifted suddenly to unadulterated joy and she spun around, rushing to the door to fling it open with a, "K'airos! You're back!" She greeted her daughter in the same manner she had the past few times - with an overwhelmingly desperate hug.
K'hai just stood behind K'airos stone faced.
Observing K'pirus reaction, K’ile muttered, "Guess I can accept it now."
K'piru's daughter was about to say something to K'hai, but a sudden hug made her forget all about it. "Hi!" she said, patting her mother's back. Noticing K'ile and K'luha over her shoulder, she waved at them without leaving the hug. She is then scandalized. "Why's Luha tied up?"
K'hai looked where K'airos was observing. Hmm so the squirt did something right at least. There was definitely no getting out of that bed for her.
Burying her face against her daughter's shoulder for a moment, Antimony allowed herself to revel in K'airos's scent and presence. Then she blinked, looking past the girl to spot the man behind her. Her weight sagged somewhat against her daughter in shock.
K'hai looked down at K'piru, smiled, only to be struck by another dizzy spell and staggered.
K'ile called out an answer to K'hai's question, "It's holding her hip in place so it can heal. Should be firm enough to move her back home." Then, quieter, "I hope. That's me hoping."
K’hai shook his head and, recovering, he answered back "You did good K'ile. Even I can see she won’t be moving."
K'luha scoffed loudly, seeming coming to life for a moment. "What? He holds me down so you can slap me around some more?" She muttered bitterly.
Still hugging her mother, K'airos said: "We could get her a healer before you leave!" And then she pointed at Antimony. "She's a healer! And I bet she's free!"
"Sister, I apologize. I have not been well,†K’hai acknowledged. “Your insults at me, and lack of caring for family made me do a terrible mistake. I will not let myself lose control like that again."
K’ile spoke up quickly, "Nobody cares more about family than K'luha. I doubt a man who would hit a crippled woman even knows what the word 'care' means. But the Elders will have their go at you. You're lucky I don't need one."
Antimony leaned back slightly from K'airos, setting her hands on the girl's shoulders as she looked past her to K'hai, confusion pulling on her features. "What is--what is this talk of... first wishing death and then--lack of caring? What... has happened to the family...?"
K'luha bristled. Even his apologies were insulting. The hair on her ears and tail stood up on ends as she even tried to dignify him with a response. But to some surprise, K'ile spoke up for her. She bit down on her tongue and kept her eyes averted from K'hai. "Well K'piru, most of the family died and apparently I turned into a horrible monster who can't raise children."
K'hai growled, "Crippled women should not be picking fights. And it's funny She seemed so concerned with her daughter when she sent me to find you. Then when I return to her, you'd swear her daughter was some demon needing destroyed. If that is caring then it is awful funny way of showing it."
"Hold your tongue, K'hai. With your hand, if your mouth is too weak," K’ile snapped.
K'hai then looked to K'piru, "I do not know. I only know I woke up about a year ago, and regained my strength enough to start heading home. Only to find... chaos..."
Antimony flinched, looked to K'airos worriedly, and then took a step back with a frown. "This is not right," she stated, tail lashing. "None of you... you should not be turning on each other so."
K’luha bristled again, her head turning sharply towards her brother. K'ile spoke again before the words left her mouth, but the fury in her gaunt and bruised face. Her lips twisted into a trembling scowl. "You LIED to me and you're obsessed with my daughter! She's got NOTHING to do with you K'hai so don't come back after five years of sleeping and tell me how I should have raised her!"
K'airos sadness wasn't evident; one of the advantages of wearing a mask as part of the uniform. "You shouldn't be fighting! You should be happy that each other is alive! This is not healthy." she pouted.
"Stop this, now!" Antimony demanded, turning between the two on the floor in the room and the two at the door. Her ears shivered anxiously and though her words were forceful, she still looked as though she wanted to bolt.
K'hai fell back against the back wall and sighed, "K'ile, did you not say you did not care what her foolish daughter did? You were more concerned with food." He then slid down the wall into a sitting position holding his head.
Weathering K'piru's snap well, he replied in a dry tone, "K'hai does not appear well."
K'airos kneeled next to K'hai, poking him with a gauntleted hand. "Are you alright? Did you eat this morning? Anything hurts?"
K'hai looked at her, "I been sick since I awoke. The maiden that nursed me back, said it is some sort of sickness.â€
Her ears laying back, Antimony looked away from the pair on the ground once more and, after a moment, directed her attention to K'hai through the door. Her tail shook and pressed against her legs but she spoke, "The... maiden didn't specify...?"
K'hai looked to K'piru "She said it was something with them big crystals. Ather... or whatever."\
"Not too sick to muscle around," K'ile muttered, and then raising his voice, "K'airos! Come here a minute."
Antimony blinked. "Aetherytes...? But... ah? I don't understand."
K'hai took a deep breath ,"Aether sickness..." finally standing, his tail whipping back and forth hearing K'ile speak once more.
Antimony frowned as he stood, ears shifting uneasily. It was not an affliction she'd encountered before, and so she worried. "You should not... be running about either, I think," she said after a moment.
K'airos stood up very calmly, letting out a sigh of relief and turning towards K'ile. "It’s not lethal! Good. He should be used to it, though..." she said, walking to the other two Miqo'te in the room.
Smiling up at K'airos, he said, "Hey, take that thing off your head."
K'hai looked at K'piru, "I found I felt better when I was away from them crystals. It's when I got to this outsider city that I felt dizzy once more."
Antimony blinked, giving K'airos a baffled look as she walked past her, reached out as though to hold onto her daughter and then, after a moment, let her hand fall back to her side. K'hai's voice dragged her attention back to him and she furrowed her brow. "It... is good then that you are to... leave soon. At least," she paused," that is my understanding."
K'hai nodded, "Though this whole situation has me confused. But now, I am even more confused. And all I've gotten for answers is to 'fuck off' from my sister."
Worrying her hands together, Antimony dropped her eyes away. "I doubt they've... if everyone would just... be family." She sighed, ears drooping. "There's little I could tell you, though."
Confused by K'ile's request, K'airos took off her turban and mask and examined them. "...they aren't dirty..." she spoke to herself.
"I just like seeing your face," K'ile said, "And it's weird to say your name and then hear your voice."
K'hai nodded, "So far, you and K'airos seem to be the only sane ones in this messed up world. I admit, my temper got the better of me, and I never meant to hurt Luha..."
"You fucking backhanded me. I have a broken hip you ass," Luha hissed across the room at K'hai.
K'ile put a hand on K'luha's shoulder and squeezed it, "You don't need to respond to him."
Antimony gained a strained look. "Please. The both of you... Family is above this kind of... whatever this is."
K'airos was a silly woman, and so she smiled to K'ile's previous words while blushing and not having a clue what to say. Thankfully, Luha and Hai's argument fixed that. "I propose you stop hating each other until Luha's back on her feet again and the food's on the tribe... or...with the tribe..." she quickly amended.
K'hai remained silent, his tail thrashing with annoyance, "When I was told one thing then suddenly the opposite is true... I wish my sister never sent me to find K'ile."
"K'airos, did you two get ahold of the food? And my spear?"
K'luha bristled furiously again, her tail swishing angrily about. Her ears twitched at K'ile's touch, and again at Antimony and Airos's words. But lost her temper when K'hai opened his mouth, "I asked you to do me a favor because you appeared after being dead for two years and told me K'ailia ran off to the tribe on her own without K'ile who had invited her in the first place and-" K'luha's frustrated angry words were broken by an equally frustrated and somewhat piercing shriek, also by K'luha.
K'hai stepped past K'piru, "Yes, you had an urgency to your town. And I could tell you cared about her. And when you care, I care."
Flinching, Antimony half-stumbled into a turn towards K'luha at her scream and begged a harried, "You must not try to move!"
K'hai continued and looked to K'ile, "When I found K'ile, I am positive he said he does not care what your foolish daughter had done, his priority was getting the stolen food back"
K'airos just looked between them, answering to K'ile's inquiry about spears with what came more as mumbling than proper words. "I left it with the cart...next to the chocobo keeper.â€
Antimony cringed away from the bickering group and added in a quieter voice, "You must not argue like this."
"Forgive me K'piru,†K’hai acknowledged. “I am not arguing. I am merely giving my side. If I am mistaken in what I heard, then he can tell me himself."
"That you would all presume the--the worst of each other..." Antimony trailed off in a strained voice, unsure what else to say.
"Don't ACT like your innocent!" Luha snarled viciously, clawing herself so she might look more properly at K'hai from her binded prison. "You LIED to me, LEFT K'ile with some assasine plan, OBESSED over my daughter, PHYSICALLY ASSUALTED me, INSULTED my entire character, and to top it all off you act innocent!?" Luha snarled, gnashing her teeth at him.
K'ile pulled on K'luha's shoulder, "Don't even try to move," and then to K'hai, "You can't really hit people and then expect them to listen to your side. If you really can't stop talking, you need to leave."
"Listen to yourselves!" Antimony choked out, her voice raising in pitch on the trailing syllables. "Stop, please! No one--none of you should--stop!"
K'hai waited long enough for K'ile to tell him he was wrong and looked back at K'luha, "You sent me to find him because you were worried about her. When I returned, suddenly you hated her, and you told me to fuck off and that I should stay dead. Fine then, I shall remain dead. You can find someone else to pull your cart and your sorry hides home." with that he turned and left the room.
"DON'T YOU RUN AWAY YOU SNIVELING COWARD!"
K'airos looked stumped as K'hai bolted and left.Â
Antimony spun, expression shifting into something closer to panic. Her body leaned towards the door, and then back to the room, completely torn as to who to stay with.
"It's fine," K'ile said. "He can take his time and cool off and go back to the tribe if he wants. If not, then he was never going to anyway."
After a moment, Antimony shook, brought her hands to her face, and fought back a sob.
K'airos put her turban and mask back on. "Uhm...wait here! I'm fixing this awful family situation!" She did not wait for anyone to speak up, running off behind K'hai and doing her best to catch up to him.
"Yeah, good luck with that," K’ile muttered.
Antimony jerked up as K’airos rushed past her, throwing out a hand after her daughter and then just wilting again.
Luha fumed as that shit of a brother ran off again spilling lies and making her some evil villain again. Why was she always the evil fucking villain? Luha slammed her hand furiously down on the board beneath her and snarled again.
"Chill," K'ile said, and then looked past towards K'piru, "THere was nothing to really be done about that."
Shuddering, Antimony pushed her face against her hands, feeling the metal frame of her glasses digging into her skin. "I can't find family again only to... watch it fall apart," she whispered half to herself. "I can't..."
Luha scowled darkly at the ceiling and shivered. "Yeah well I'm not going to be told how I did a shitty job raising my daughter and get slapped around."
"The family isn't falling apart," said K'ile, "K'hai's just got a bit too much of your other brother in him all of a sudden."
Antimony's tail twisted at that, shoulders hunching as though to hide from the words. "I'm sure... this was all a misunderstanding," she murmured faintly.
"Tell that to my swelling face." Luha muttered bitterly, looking away from Antimony and towards K'ile.
"Much as I'd like to let him borrow one or two of my own bruises," K'ile rolled his shoulder, reminding himself of the injuries he still wears from being beaten down earlier, "I don't think that would be super healthy."
K'luha shuddered again, ears flattening to her head as she felt rather sick. Too much exhertion from the anger most likely. "I can't keep doing that..."Luha muttered, shaking visibly.
Antimony turned her head slightly at that, ears shifting in worry. "Your... own?" She blinked and then finally took a good look at K'ile, blanching. "What--! Oh no, I'm so sorry, I didn't even--I thought to help K'luha and I never thought to even ask if--"
"Huh? No, I'm fine. A few bruises and cuts are good for a guy every once in a while."
Antimony frowned, looked unconvinced, and then just looked exhausted, ears and tail drooping in surrender.
"I'm seriously just fine."
Luha glanced up towards K'ile's face and noted the state of his injuries. No one was getting out of Ul'dah very healthy were they?
Glancing to one side, Antimony was silent for a moment and then in a quiet voice, "... You have the food back now, at least. You'll be able to go... home soon."
"Uhm. Yeah. That's..." He looked down at K'luha, "Pretty much required at this point."
Antimony nodded, looking quietly to the woman on the floor - or, more specifically, to her padding and the straps holding her hips in place.
"And I'm guessing that you're staying in Ul'dah, K'piru. I'm sure K'deiki would let you come back. How could she not?"
Her tail hung low, tucked down between her legs, as she replied in a small voice, "How could any of them." A pause and then, "... I can't leave Airos."
K'ile's ears drooped down near his head, and he muttered, "Yeah. I guess she’s staying too."
K'hai stepped up behind K'piru in silence then. A second later, "I brought him back!" K'airos proclaimed behind K'hai. "Promise me you will all be nice to each other!"
Antimony’s own ears shivered. "I'm so--" Her words cut off suddenly at the voice behind her and there was a moment where she looked as though she were about to cry before she forced relief to her face and spun around. "Oh Airos, you..."
K'hai smiled, "Aww I didn't know you cared!" and picked K'piru up in a big bear hug.
K'ile frowned in the general direction of the doorway.
Antimony let out a faint "Oof" as she was lifted and, after a moment, managed to work her own arms around K'hai. "I'm... glad you've returned. Both of you," she mumbled in a shaky voice.
Kluha's eyes glanced back down to the floor in the calm. A small thought struck her, and before she had time to stop herself she had already mumbled it in a hushed whisper to K'ile. "If you wanted to, you could stay with them too. I have an inkling how much they mean to you so..." K'luha was interrupted by K'hai and Airos's return and promptly shut her mouth.
K'hai set K'piru down and stepped into the room, approaching K'luha then kneeled, "Sister. I deeply regret my actions. I never meant to hurt you. I love you and if you told me to step into the maw of a sandworm, I'd ask which one. I am sorry."
K'airos just smiled in their general direction, very proud of something.
Luha listened quietly to K'hai's apology. It seemed genuine. She lifted her head weakly and turned it back to look at K'hai. "I wouldn't ask you to step into the maw of a sandworm idiot..." Luha mumbled, although it was clear now that she was not angry. It was the usual way she begrudgingly forgave people.
Antimony let out a faint breath as the two interacted on much more friendly terms finally.
K'hai nodded, "I am an idiot. I was slow on learning, but I mean none in our tribe harm. I was only confused."
Kile maintained his silence throughout all of this.
K'piru's daughter was also quiet, but she looked ready to jump in and interrupt the conversation at any moment.
K'luha bit her bottom lip. She wanted to forgive him, but the slap still stung on her face and made her bitter and angry. "You hit me again and I will never forgive you. Got it?" Luha wasn't entirely happy with the words she had settled on, but they were there now and she stuck with them.
K'hai nodded, "Never again will I hit anyone in our tribe unless ordered by the elders."
"That's still my job," K'ile finally put in, "And I expect you to confess what you did to the Elders as soon as you get back."
K'hai looked to K'ile and scowled and said nothing. Only stood and turned to K'piru, "Shaman... is there anything you can do for this illness?"
Antimony swallowed, looked away from K'hai as though uncomfortable under his sudden attention, and replied after a moment, "I cannot take such a title anymore. But... I don't know. If I had..." She drew in a breath, looked pained, and then, "The tribe's shaman would be better equipped to help you."
K'luha let out a heavy breath. She felt... better. If only a little. But K'ile's reminder of elder confessions made her uneasy. K'ile most like would also face punishment... perhaps as severe as K'hai's.
K'hai sighed, "Your daughter mentioned you were still a healer. It is why I ask."
Pulling his gaze from K'hai and K'piru, K'ile looked to K'airos and said, "The Tribe is still there in the Sagolii. Why didn't you come home, Airos?"
"I don't know what aether sickness is," Antimony murmured. "But--I... don't have any supplies to treat... anything anymore."
K'hai nodded, "I see. I don't understand it either... all I can tell is what I experienced…†He then took a seat on the floor.
Antimony's ears and tail drooped in silent apology.
K'airos looked troubled. Or she would have, if she wasn't wearing her mask again. "I thought you all had died. And...Aijeen found me. I couldn't leave her alone here, even if she managed to...become Ul'dhan. I thought I had nothing to go back for!" she managed to say.
"And now that you do?"
K'airos turned her head to look at Antimony for a long while. "Mom's still..." She shook her head. "And I can't leave Aijeen. She won't go back, and she would be devastated if I left."
K'luha lifted her tail slightly and reached it back to lightly touch K'ile's leg. As if to remind him that he could stay with them as well if he wanted to.
Antimony blinked, looked up sharply at K'airos's initial words, flicking her eyes towards the girl with a strange expression.
K'hai looked at his sister, at her tugging, then looked between them all, "Wait... K'piru and K'airos are... exiles?"
"They are not," said K'ile, sternly, "They're just..." He didn't even know.
"There is nothing else I can be," Antimony replied in a low tone, still watching K'airos with a distant expression.
K'hai stood, "Those who know they cannot return to the tribe, left. There is no return." Antimony flinched at that, turned her face away from all of them, towards the door.
K'airos clapped her hands. "Well, the food is waiting outside! I can go with you until you reach the Sagolii Gate."
K'ile dropped his gaze to the floor in front of him, "I'm not sure if it's wise to leave immediately."
K'airos' ears dropped to the sides of her head.
K'luha turned her head back towards K'ile and looked up to meet his gaze. "K'ile..." She murmured quietly to him. "If you want to stay with them... I know they mean so much to you..."
K'hai looked at K'airos, "I will always have fond memories K'airos. And it warms my heart to see you've made such a good life for yourself."
Lifting his gaze to K'hai, he says, "I didn't ask for your opinion on it," and he dropped his gaze to K'luha, seeming unhappy, but not having words for her either.
Tail shivering, Antimony found breathing suddenly difficult and she forced out, "You... you are right. I'm sorry I--I will go now." She moved towards the door.
"No K'piru. We are the ones who must go." K'hai intercepted her and gave K'piru a soft hug. "Thank you for your help." He then turned to beckon to K'airos.
Antimony shrunk into the hug and remained very small once K'hai released her. "I can't watch any of you leave," she whispered and continued to exit through the door.
"Uhm. One thing!" With her ears still down, she struggled to take off her left gauntlet. Once she accomplished that, she took off the Brass Blade identification ring from her finger and handed it to K'ile. "If you run into Brass Blade patrols and they give you trouble, just show them this and tell them you are me. They'll let you go in peace." she said.
"K'ile...?" Luha urged quietly as Antimony began to leave.
K’ile still didn't acknowledge Luha's prodding, but he didn’t reach for the ring either, "Thought you said you'd go with as far as the Sagolii Gate."
"If K'hai doesn't mind..."
K'hai sighed, "Our laws dictate the moment I found out you both were exiles, I should of picked my sister up and left the room without any further words." He shook his head, "Thank you for your assistance K'airos."
"You can just go back without us, K'hai," K’ile announced.
K'hai looked at him plainly, "So you are staying then? Is that the wish of sister?"
Antimony exited without further interruption, an almost panicked haste in her steps. She would continue a good ways down the hall before sagging against the wall for a time.
"No, you,†K’ile explained. “If you don't want to interact with K'airos, that's fine. But she needs to take us to the Sagolii Gate so we get past those Blades people safely."
K'hai frowned, "Very well. I will tell the elders all that has transpired here. Including my violence against sister." with that, he turned and exited the room.
K'airos put the ring back on. After K'hai left, she looked down at K'ile. "When do you want to leave?"
"It doesn't matter anymore. Whenever. If you bring the cart around I can load K'luha up on it."
She nodded. "Alright. It's right outside the Quicksand, so I'll help you get her on it!"
"K'ile...?" Luha called quietly, shifting her head to glance back up at him.
"Hm?" K'ile looked over to Luha, pretending to be oblivious.
K'airos moved to the other side, crouching and getting ready to lift K'luha.
"You really can stay with them if you want... I know I got mad earlier but... it was wrong and I was being selfish."
Making a face of displeaure, K'ile said, "I hear you," and then moved to help K'airos lift Luha off the ground. The woman’s ears flattened again and she quietened down.
K'airos smiled at some thought. "At the count of three. One, two, three." and she lifted up K'luha.
***
Lingering near K'luha but without anything to say to the crying, injured woman, K'ile frowns awkwardly in K'piru's general direction. His sister has gone quiet as well. These women. There's no winning.
Antimony had indeed gone quiet, for some time now as her thoughts roiled about her grey-haired skull. Every so often, she'd cast a sideways glance towards K'ile and K'luha, but watching them only reminded her of how she did not belong with their family. No matter what K'luha said. That was how it had always been.
K'airos arrived with K'hai to the door and knocked. "We have the food!" she told the door, melodically. K'hai walked behind her, growing dizzy, but he did his best to not show it as he followed K'airos.
K’luha shivered with the knocking of the door and a bright cheery announcement.Â
 Antimony first jumped at the thunking on the door, then blinked dumbly at K'luha and K'ile as though they had caused it, and then processed the voice that had sounded shortly after the knock. The dull expression she'd worn for the past hour or so shifted suddenly to unadulterated joy and she spun around, rushing to the door to fling it open with a, "K'airos! You're back!" She greeted her daughter in the same manner she had the past few times - with an overwhelmingly desperate hug.
K'hai just stood behind K'airos stone faced.
Observing K'pirus reaction, K’ile muttered, "Guess I can accept it now."
K'piru's daughter was about to say something to K'hai, but a sudden hug made her forget all about it. "Hi!" she said, patting her mother's back. Noticing K'ile and K'luha over her shoulder, she waved at them without leaving the hug. She is then scandalized. "Why's Luha tied up?"
K'hai looked where K'airos was observing. Hmm so the squirt did something right at least. There was definitely no getting out of that bed for her.
Burying her face against her daughter's shoulder for a moment, Antimony allowed herself to revel in K'airos's scent and presence. Then she blinked, looking past the girl to spot the man behind her. Her weight sagged somewhat against her daughter in shock.
K'hai looked down at K'piru, smiled, only to be struck by another dizzy spell and staggered.
K'ile called out an answer to K'hai's question, "It's holding her hip in place so it can heal. Should be firm enough to move her back home." Then, quieter, "I hope. That's me hoping."
K’hai shook his head and, recovering, he answered back "You did good K'ile. Even I can see she won’t be moving."
K'luha scoffed loudly, seeming coming to life for a moment. "What? He holds me down so you can slap me around some more?" She muttered bitterly.
Still hugging her mother, K'airos said: "We could get her a healer before you leave!" And then she pointed at Antimony. "She's a healer! And I bet she's free!"
"Sister, I apologize. I have not been well,†K’hai acknowledged. “Your insults at me, and lack of caring for family made me do a terrible mistake. I will not let myself lose control like that again."
K’ile spoke up quickly, "Nobody cares more about family than K'luha. I doubt a man who would hit a crippled woman even knows what the word 'care' means. But the Elders will have their go at you. You're lucky I don't need one."
Antimony leaned back slightly from K'airos, setting her hands on the girl's shoulders as she looked past her to K'hai, confusion pulling on her features. "What is--what is this talk of... first wishing death and then--lack of caring? What... has happened to the family...?"
K'luha bristled. Even his apologies were insulting. The hair on her ears and tail stood up on ends as she even tried to dignify him with a response. But to some surprise, K'ile spoke up for her. She bit down on her tongue and kept her eyes averted from K'hai. "Well K'piru, most of the family died and apparently I turned into a horrible monster who can't raise children."
K'hai growled, "Crippled women should not be picking fights. And it's funny She seemed so concerned with her daughter when she sent me to find you. Then when I return to her, you'd swear her daughter was some demon needing destroyed. If that is caring then it is awful funny way of showing it."
"Hold your tongue, K'hai. With your hand, if your mouth is too weak," K’ile snapped.
K'hai then looked to K'piru, "I do not know. I only know I woke up about a year ago, and regained my strength enough to start heading home. Only to find... chaos..."
Antimony flinched, looked to K'airos worriedly, and then took a step back with a frown. "This is not right," she stated, tail lashing. "None of you... you should not be turning on each other so."
K’luha bristled again, her head turning sharply towards her brother. K'ile spoke again before the words left her mouth, but the fury in her gaunt and bruised face. Her lips twisted into a trembling scowl. "You LIED to me and you're obsessed with my daughter! She's got NOTHING to do with you K'hai so don't come back after five years of sleeping and tell me how I should have raised her!"
K'airos sadness wasn't evident; one of the advantages of wearing a mask as part of the uniform. "You shouldn't be fighting! You should be happy that each other is alive! This is not healthy." she pouted.
"Stop this, now!" Antimony demanded, turning between the two on the floor in the room and the two at the door. Her ears shivered anxiously and though her words were forceful, she still looked as though she wanted to bolt.
K'hai fell back against the back wall and sighed, "K'ile, did you not say you did not care what her foolish daughter did? You were more concerned with food." He then slid down the wall into a sitting position holding his head.
Weathering K'piru's snap well, he replied in a dry tone, "K'hai does not appear well."
K'airos kneeled next to K'hai, poking him with a gauntleted hand. "Are you alright? Did you eat this morning? Anything hurts?"
K'hai looked at her, "I been sick since I awoke. The maiden that nursed me back, said it is some sort of sickness.â€
Her ears laying back, Antimony looked away from the pair on the ground once more and, after a moment, directed her attention to K'hai through the door. Her tail shook and pressed against her legs but she spoke, "The... maiden didn't specify...?"
K'hai looked to K'piru "She said it was something with them big crystals. Ather... or whatever."\
"Not too sick to muscle around," K'ile muttered, and then raising his voice, "K'airos! Come here a minute."
Antimony blinked. "Aetherytes...? But... ah? I don't understand."
K'hai took a deep breath ,"Aether sickness..." finally standing, his tail whipping back and forth hearing K'ile speak once more.
Antimony frowned as he stood, ears shifting uneasily. It was not an affliction she'd encountered before, and so she worried. "You should not... be running about either, I think," she said after a moment.
K'airos stood up very calmly, letting out a sigh of relief and turning towards K'ile. "It’s not lethal! Good. He should be used to it, though..." she said, walking to the other two Miqo'te in the room.
Smiling up at K'airos, he said, "Hey, take that thing off your head."
K'hai looked at K'piru, "I found I felt better when I was away from them crystals. It's when I got to this outsider city that I felt dizzy once more."
Antimony blinked, giving K'airos a baffled look as she walked past her, reached out as though to hold onto her daughter and then, after a moment, let her hand fall back to her side. K'hai's voice dragged her attention back to him and she furrowed her brow. "It... is good then that you are to... leave soon. At least," she paused," that is my understanding."
K'hai nodded, "Though this whole situation has me confused. But now, I am even more confused. And all I've gotten for answers is to 'fuck off' from my sister."
Worrying her hands together, Antimony dropped her eyes away. "I doubt they've... if everyone would just... be family." She sighed, ears drooping. "There's little I could tell you, though."
Confused by K'ile's request, K'airos took off her turban and mask and examined them. "...they aren't dirty..." she spoke to herself.
"I just like seeing your face," K'ile said, "And it's weird to say your name and then hear your voice."
K'hai nodded, "So far, you and K'airos seem to be the only sane ones in this messed up world. I admit, my temper got the better of me, and I never meant to hurt Luha..."
"You fucking backhanded me. I have a broken hip you ass," Luha hissed across the room at K'hai.
K'ile put a hand on K'luha's shoulder and squeezed it, "You don't need to respond to him."
Antimony gained a strained look. "Please. The both of you... Family is above this kind of... whatever this is."
K'airos was a silly woman, and so she smiled to K'ile's previous words while blushing and not having a clue what to say. Thankfully, Luha and Hai's argument fixed that. "I propose you stop hating each other until Luha's back on her feet again and the food's on the tribe... or...with the tribe..." she quickly amended.
K'hai remained silent, his tail thrashing with annoyance, "When I was told one thing then suddenly the opposite is true... I wish my sister never sent me to find K'ile."
"K'airos, did you two get ahold of the food? And my spear?"
K'luha bristled furiously again, her tail swishing angrily about. Her ears twitched at K'ile's touch, and again at Antimony and Airos's words. But lost her temper when K'hai opened his mouth, "I asked you to do me a favor because you appeared after being dead for two years and told me K'ailia ran off to the tribe on her own without K'ile who had invited her in the first place and-" K'luha's frustrated angry words were broken by an equally frustrated and somewhat piercing shriek, also by K'luha.
K'hai stepped past K'piru, "Yes, you had an urgency to your town. And I could tell you cared about her. And when you care, I care."
Flinching, Antimony half-stumbled into a turn towards K'luha at her scream and begged a harried, "You must not try to move!"
K'hai continued and looked to K'ile, "When I found K'ile, I am positive he said he does not care what your foolish daughter had done, his priority was getting the stolen food back"
K'airos just looked between them, answering to K'ile's inquiry about spears with what came more as mumbling than proper words. "I left it with the cart...next to the chocobo keeper.â€
Antimony cringed away from the bickering group and added in a quieter voice, "You must not argue like this."
"Forgive me K'piru,†K’hai acknowledged. “I am not arguing. I am merely giving my side. If I am mistaken in what I heard, then he can tell me himself."
"That you would all presume the--the worst of each other..." Antimony trailed off in a strained voice, unsure what else to say.
"Don't ACT like your innocent!" Luha snarled viciously, clawing herself so she might look more properly at K'hai from her binded prison. "You LIED to me, LEFT K'ile with some assasine plan, OBESSED over my daughter, PHYSICALLY ASSUALTED me, INSULTED my entire character, and to top it all off you act innocent!?" Luha snarled, gnashing her teeth at him.
K'ile pulled on K'luha's shoulder, "Don't even try to move," and then to K'hai, "You can't really hit people and then expect them to listen to your side. If you really can't stop talking, you need to leave."
"Listen to yourselves!" Antimony choked out, her voice raising in pitch on the trailing syllables. "Stop, please! No one--none of you should--stop!"
K'hai waited long enough for K'ile to tell him he was wrong and looked back at K'luha, "You sent me to find him because you were worried about her. When I returned, suddenly you hated her, and you told me to fuck off and that I should stay dead. Fine then, I shall remain dead. You can find someone else to pull your cart and your sorry hides home." with that he turned and left the room.
"DON'T YOU RUN AWAY YOU SNIVELING COWARD!"
K'airos looked stumped as K'hai bolted and left.Â
Antimony spun, expression shifting into something closer to panic. Her body leaned towards the door, and then back to the room, completely torn as to who to stay with.
"It's fine," K'ile said. "He can take his time and cool off and go back to the tribe if he wants. If not, then he was never going to anyway."
After a moment, Antimony shook, brought her hands to her face, and fought back a sob.
K'airos put her turban and mask back on. "Uhm...wait here! I'm fixing this awful family situation!" She did not wait for anyone to speak up, running off behind K'hai and doing her best to catch up to him.
"Yeah, good luck with that," K’ile muttered.
Antimony jerked up as K’airos rushed past her, throwing out a hand after her daughter and then just wilting again.
Luha fumed as that shit of a brother ran off again spilling lies and making her some evil villain again. Why was she always the evil fucking villain? Luha slammed her hand furiously down on the board beneath her and snarled again.
"Chill," K'ile said, and then looked past towards K'piru, "THere was nothing to really be done about that."
Shuddering, Antimony pushed her face against her hands, feeling the metal frame of her glasses digging into her skin. "I can't find family again only to... watch it fall apart," she whispered half to herself. "I can't..."
Luha scowled darkly at the ceiling and shivered. "Yeah well I'm not going to be told how I did a shitty job raising my daughter and get slapped around."
"The family isn't falling apart," said K'ile, "K'hai's just got a bit too much of your other brother in him all of a sudden."
Antimony's tail twisted at that, shoulders hunching as though to hide from the words. "I'm sure... this was all a misunderstanding," she murmured faintly.
"Tell that to my swelling face." Luha muttered bitterly, looking away from Antimony and towards K'ile.
"Much as I'd like to let him borrow one or two of my own bruises," K'ile rolled his shoulder, reminding himself of the injuries he still wears from being beaten down earlier, "I don't think that would be super healthy."
K'luha shuddered again, ears flattening to her head as she felt rather sick. Too much exhertion from the anger most likely. "I can't keep doing that..."Luha muttered, shaking visibly.
Antimony turned her head slightly at that, ears shifting in worry. "Your... own?" She blinked and then finally took a good look at K'ile, blanching. "What--! Oh no, I'm so sorry, I didn't even--I thought to help K'luha and I never thought to even ask if--"
"Huh? No, I'm fine. A few bruises and cuts are good for a guy every once in a while."
Antimony frowned, looked unconvinced, and then just looked exhausted, ears and tail drooping in surrender.
"I'm seriously just fine."
Luha glanced up towards K'ile's face and noted the state of his injuries. No one was getting out of Ul'dah very healthy were they?
Glancing to one side, Antimony was silent for a moment and then in a quiet voice, "... You have the food back now, at least. You'll be able to go... home soon."
"Uhm. Yeah. That's..." He looked down at K'luha, "Pretty much required at this point."
Antimony nodded, looking quietly to the woman on the floor - or, more specifically, to her padding and the straps holding her hips in place.
"And I'm guessing that you're staying in Ul'dah, K'piru. I'm sure K'deiki would let you come back. How could she not?"
Her tail hung low, tucked down between her legs, as she replied in a small voice, "How could any of them." A pause and then, "... I can't leave Airos."
K'ile's ears drooped down near his head, and he muttered, "Yeah. I guess she’s staying too."
K'hai stepped up behind K'piru in silence then. A second later, "I brought him back!" K'airos proclaimed behind K'hai. "Promise me you will all be nice to each other!"
Antimony’s own ears shivered. "I'm so--" Her words cut off suddenly at the voice behind her and there was a moment where she looked as though she were about to cry before she forced relief to her face and spun around. "Oh Airos, you..."
K'hai smiled, "Aww I didn't know you cared!" and picked K'piru up in a big bear hug.
K'ile frowned in the general direction of the doorway.
Antimony let out a faint "Oof" as she was lifted and, after a moment, managed to work her own arms around K'hai. "I'm... glad you've returned. Both of you," she mumbled in a shaky voice.
Kluha's eyes glanced back down to the floor in the calm. A small thought struck her, and before she had time to stop herself she had already mumbled it in a hushed whisper to K'ile. "If you wanted to, you could stay with them too. I have an inkling how much they mean to you so..." K'luha was interrupted by K'hai and Airos's return and promptly shut her mouth.
K'hai set K'piru down and stepped into the room, approaching K'luha then kneeled, "Sister. I deeply regret my actions. I never meant to hurt you. I love you and if you told me to step into the maw of a sandworm, I'd ask which one. I am sorry."
K'airos just smiled in their general direction, very proud of something.
Luha listened quietly to K'hai's apology. It seemed genuine. She lifted her head weakly and turned it back to look at K'hai. "I wouldn't ask you to step into the maw of a sandworm idiot..." Luha mumbled, although it was clear now that she was not angry. It was the usual way she begrudgingly forgave people.
Antimony let out a faint breath as the two interacted on much more friendly terms finally.
K'hai nodded, "I am an idiot. I was slow on learning, but I mean none in our tribe harm. I was only confused."
Kile maintained his silence throughout all of this.
K'piru's daughter was also quiet, but she looked ready to jump in and interrupt the conversation at any moment.
K'luha bit her bottom lip. She wanted to forgive him, but the slap still stung on her face and made her bitter and angry. "You hit me again and I will never forgive you. Got it?" Luha wasn't entirely happy with the words she had settled on, but they were there now and she stuck with them.
K'hai nodded, "Never again will I hit anyone in our tribe unless ordered by the elders."
"That's still my job," K'ile finally put in, "And I expect you to confess what you did to the Elders as soon as you get back."
K'hai looked to K'ile and scowled and said nothing. Only stood and turned to K'piru, "Shaman... is there anything you can do for this illness?"
Antimony swallowed, looked away from K'hai as though uncomfortable under his sudden attention, and replied after a moment, "I cannot take such a title anymore. But... I don't know. If I had..." She drew in a breath, looked pained, and then, "The tribe's shaman would be better equipped to help you."
K'luha let out a heavy breath. She felt... better. If only a little. But K'ile's reminder of elder confessions made her uneasy. K'ile most like would also face punishment... perhaps as severe as K'hai's.
K'hai sighed, "Your daughter mentioned you were still a healer. It is why I ask."
Pulling his gaze from K'hai and K'piru, K'ile looked to K'airos and said, "The Tribe is still there in the Sagolii. Why didn't you come home, Airos?"
"I don't know what aether sickness is," Antimony murmured. "But--I... don't have any supplies to treat... anything anymore."
K'hai nodded, "I see. I don't understand it either... all I can tell is what I experienced…†He then took a seat on the floor.
Antimony's ears and tail drooped in silent apology.
K'airos looked troubled. Or she would have, if she wasn't wearing her mask again. "I thought you all had died. And...Aijeen found me. I couldn't leave her alone here, even if she managed to...become Ul'dhan. I thought I had nothing to go back for!" she managed to say.
"And now that you do?"
K'airos turned her head to look at Antimony for a long while. "Mom's still..." She shook her head. "And I can't leave Aijeen. She won't go back, and she would be devastated if I left."
K'luha lifted her tail slightly and reached it back to lightly touch K'ile's leg. As if to remind him that he could stay with them as well if he wanted to.
Antimony blinked, looked up sharply at K'airos's initial words, flicking her eyes towards the girl with a strange expression.
K'hai looked at his sister, at her tugging, then looked between them all, "Wait... K'piru and K'airos are... exiles?"
"They are not," said K'ile, sternly, "They're just..." He didn't even know.
"There is nothing else I can be," Antimony replied in a low tone, still watching K'airos with a distant expression.
K'hai stood, "Those who know they cannot return to the tribe, left. There is no return." Antimony flinched at that, turned her face away from all of them, towards the door.
K'airos clapped her hands. "Well, the food is waiting outside! I can go with you until you reach the Sagolii Gate."
K'ile dropped his gaze to the floor in front of him, "I'm not sure if it's wise to leave immediately."
K'airos' ears dropped to the sides of her head.
K'luha turned her head back towards K'ile and looked up to meet his gaze. "K'ile..." She murmured quietly to him. "If you want to stay with them... I know they mean so much to you..."
K'hai looked at K'airos, "I will always have fond memories K'airos. And it warms my heart to see you've made such a good life for yourself."
Lifting his gaze to K'hai, he says, "I didn't ask for your opinion on it," and he dropped his gaze to K'luha, seeming unhappy, but not having words for her either.
Tail shivering, Antimony found breathing suddenly difficult and she forced out, "You... you are right. I'm sorry I--I will go now." She moved towards the door.
"No K'piru. We are the ones who must go." K'hai intercepted her and gave K'piru a soft hug. "Thank you for your help." He then turned to beckon to K'airos.
Antimony shrunk into the hug and remained very small once K'hai released her. "I can't watch any of you leave," she whispered and continued to exit through the door.
"Uhm. One thing!" With her ears still down, she struggled to take off her left gauntlet. Once she accomplished that, she took off the Brass Blade identification ring from her finger and handed it to K'ile. "If you run into Brass Blade patrols and they give you trouble, just show them this and tell them you are me. They'll let you go in peace." she said.
"K'ile...?" Luha urged quietly as Antimony began to leave.
K’ile still didn't acknowledge Luha's prodding, but he didn’t reach for the ring either, "Thought you said you'd go with as far as the Sagolii Gate."
"If K'hai doesn't mind..."
K'hai sighed, "Our laws dictate the moment I found out you both were exiles, I should of picked my sister up and left the room without any further words." He shook his head, "Thank you for your assistance K'airos."
"You can just go back without us, K'hai," K’ile announced.
K'hai looked at him plainly, "So you are staying then? Is that the wish of sister?"
Antimony exited without further interruption, an almost panicked haste in her steps. She would continue a good ways down the hall before sagging against the wall for a time.
"No, you,†K’ile explained. “If you don't want to interact with K'airos, that's fine. But she needs to take us to the Sagolii Gate so we get past those Blades people safely."
K'hai frowned, "Very well. I will tell the elders all that has transpired here. Including my violence against sister." with that, he turned and exited the room.
K'airos put the ring back on. After K'hai left, she looked down at K'ile. "When do you want to leave?"
"It doesn't matter anymore. Whenever. If you bring the cart around I can load K'luha up on it."
She nodded. "Alright. It's right outside the Quicksand, so I'll help you get her on it!"
"K'ile...?" Luha called quietly, shifting her head to glance back up at him.
"Hm?" K'ile looked over to Luha, pretending to be oblivious.
K'airos moved to the other side, crouching and getting ready to lift K'luha.
"You really can stay with them if you want... I know I got mad earlier but... it was wrong and I was being selfish."
Making a face of displeaure, K'ile said, "I hear you," and then moved to help K'airos lift Luha off the ground. The woman’s ears flattened again and she quietened down.
K'airos smiled at some thought. "At the count of three. One, two, three." and she lifted up K'luha.
![[Image: AntiThalSig.png]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/179079766/AntiThalSig.png)
"Song dogs barking at the break of dawn, lightning pushes the edges of a thunderstorm; and these streets, quiet as a sleeping army, send their battered dreams to heaven."
Hipparion Tribe (Sagolii)Â - Â Antimony Jhanhi's Wiki
