Hidden Intentions (Short Story/closed)

[Viola]

She smiled sweetly, feigning the "cute little girl" routine as the middle-aged Elezen clapped her hands with a smile. "What's a cute little orphan such as yourself doing out here?" she asked, clearly not knowing the malicious motives of the young Au Ra who had lied her way to the outskirts of Coerthas.

 

The little Au Ra had heard of soldiers of unknown origin moving around in Othard. Armed with unknown and devastating weapons, they had wrested control with relative ease from the surrounding area. "Soldiers from a strange pla-" she was cut off before she could finish by the Elezen, "Don't say another word. It's best you don't relive that trauma for now. Please, come in." The silver-haired woman motioned into her house and the young Xaela could only follow in agreement to the gesture.

 

The young Dotharl clan child had been carefully watching the house for a few days, waiting and learning of what happened in this quiet and slightly remote area. She didn't know much about the inside of the house but she did know that the couple who lived here were relatively popular.

 

As she entered, she suddenly understood why they were; so many handcrafted things. Various crafted items ranging from simple yet elegant jewelry to wooden dolls and other such assorted items littered the multitude of shelves neatly and presentably. She had done well to pick this place for intentions. Yes, these multitude of trinkets would please her greatly and even help her tribe out, despite them not knowing that she had left.

 

As the little Au Ra looked around, the Elezen beckoned her to follow, smiling even broader at the look of wonder on the little girl's face. "Come, I wish for you to meet someone." She said, the little draconic girl doing exactly as she was told.

 

The house, while not exactly small, was quite humble for the quality of the craftsmanship in the decorations. She was lead from the entrance hallway through the den and down a small flight of stairs into a cellar that could be anything but; a workroom with various tools and the occasional unfinished project. At the end of the fairly long and spacious room was an old Hyur sitting in front of a fire place on a chair, his hair almost pure white. "Honey, I found a little orphan girl outside. She's quite sweet" she said, causing him to turn to look at the peculiar Au Ra.

 

His face was heavily wrinkled with a pair of small spectacles adorning his face. "Hm... I haven't seen a race like hers before. How old are you, little one?" he gave a humble smile as she looked at the object in his hands. "I'm 9." she replied, her eyes still locked on what looked like a piece of jewelry in his hands.

 

"An inquisitive little girl, huh? It's a brooch." he broke his gaze from the little girl to the middle-aged Elezen. "It's about done, Viola. Just need a bit more time. Would you mind getting us a drink?" She nodded, quite gracefully turning around to walk back up the stairs. "Can I look at it?" The Dotharl asked, slowly inching forward.

 

"Inquisitive indeed. Mind grabbing that carving knife over there on the table to your right? I just need to add a little writing to this and it'll be done." He turned back to the fireplace, looking at the small flames rising off the burning logs as the girl grabbed the knife. She walked slowly forward, inspecting the blade as she smiled maliciously.

 

She gently pressed a finger to the blade, noting how strangely sharp it was despite its use. As she walked forward, she changed her grip on it; holding it in a downward position as she raised it abover her head as the man outstretched his hand without looking, waiting for the knife that would never be placed in it.

 

With a swift and vicious thrust, the blade had met its mark; the brooch dropped from his hand as he lurched away and towards the fire as he lost control of his body, blood almost gushing out of the carving knife in his neck. He was dead in almost a minute from the injury.

 

The little Au Ra gleefully giggled as she picked up the brooch and pulled the blade out of the old craftsman's neck, blood all over her left arm and part of her torso from the violent attack before she quickly turned to move towards the stairs.

 

A scream; the Elezen looked in horror as she dropped the tray and cups of water onto the foot of the stairs from seeing her beloved laying dead, bloodied and partially burned as well as the sight of the seemingly "sweet" girl actually being a vicious murderer.

 

She turned, tripping onto the stairs as the Au Ra pounced on her, quickly stabbing the Elezen repeatedly in the back before she could defend herself. It only took seconds before she died, the Dotharl repeatedly stabbing her at least a dozen or so times between the spine and shoulder blades.

 

The girl shook, giggling in partial insanity-filled bloodlust as she slowly walked up the stairs. It was almost too easy, but she didn't care. She loved it, and with this new trinket, she had proof of her first kill to her tribe. With the blade still in hand, she exited the door only to see a figure clad in some strange platemail in front of her, wielding a sword larger than she had ever seen. She braced herself, her true self seen prematurely.

 

"Fury forefend, it's a child who's a murderer! What sort of devilry is this?!" He asked, the figure towered over her but she wasn't remotely intimidated. She quickly took the offense, dashing towards him with murderous intent as she swung at him. He moved out of the way, swinging the blade to counter her attempted thrust which in turn only caused her to dive to the left and out of fatal swing range for her to get a mildly deep slash into her side.

 

She landed harshly onto her hip, quickly getting back onto her feet despite the wound. "I'll take your head as a trophy!" she rasped angrily, dropping the brooch onto the grass as she sprinted forward again, this time being forced push herself onto the ground to dodge another horizontal slash aimed for her head just before she got up and thrust the knife towards her opponent's chestplate.

 

He twisted unconventionally towards her right, the blade deflecting off the metal harmlessly past him as he brought the pommel down into her back between her shoulderblades, immediately flooring her. "You shant do such a thing, child." He commented, lifting the blade of his weapon above his head with both hands. "In the name of the Fury, Halone. You are sentenced to death for the atrocities you have commited this day." Her back was on fire from the blow and as she gasped for air, she rolled onto her left side, swinging both legs to knock him off-balance, which it clearly hit its mark.

 

The armor-clad figure staggered, allowing the Au Ra to once again get back onto her feet to mount another thrust towards him, this time towards the man's neck. However, she wasn't fast enough as once again he used the weight of his weapon's pommel down on the top of her head, sending her into the ground on her right side.

 

She had blacked out for what felt like was just a second, the pain in her head almost too great for her to continue. She couldn't let him win, she needed him to lose! The young Dotharl tried getting onto one knee as she heard a loud thud somewhere behind her before she felt a hand grasp the back of her head by the hair firmly and yanked her into a sitting position the ground, her neck bent and throat exposed.

 

She looked up, her vision quite blurry from the recent blow to her skull though she could make out the features of an Elezen, the emerald eyes being the most distinct of the features she could currently see. She could see the solemn frown on his face. Not one of anger, but one of sadness. He shook his head, sighing deeply. "Death would be too good for you. A better punishment would let you live so you can seek penance." She made a pained grimace, almost spitting at him. "S-Screw... You. You're l-lucky I can't feel..." she trailed off, having a hard time speaking, let alone moving her limbs. He let go, spotting the Brooch she had dropped from before glinting in the sun. "Tha-" he turned, glaring at her "Yours? I don't think so. You murdered a husband and wife for this." Looking at it in his hands, he slowly nodded. "Since you want it so badly, you can wear it. You can even have the woman's name as punishment, Viola." She tried shaking her head, barely even able to do that as he grabbed her by the head again and pressed the brooch against her neck, slowly nodding.

 

"From this day forward, you will do as I say and exactly as you're told. From now on, you will learn what it is like to be a proper lady, and a proper resident of Eorzea."