Truth and fate. ( A story by Manari)

[Manari]

((This story takes place about three months before the fall of Dalamud.  It's also the first story I've ever tried to write, let me know what you think.))

 

 

 

    Long after the sun had fallen from the sky to rest itself for the next morning, the clear skies of the eve looked down over the vastness of the Black Shroud.  Under the canopy of trees, set in the Central Shoud, the City-State of Gridania peacefully awaited the next sun.  The bell was already late as the front doors of a small house on the far western side of the City-State opened.  The doors opened quietly, intentionally cracked just enough to let a small Miqo'te girl silently slip out before closing them once again.  The girl cut a path through the streets of Gridania, passing through the gates without hesitation. 

 

    As she passed through the pathways of the Central Shroud, the girl looked up to see the eve's moonlight trickling through the branches far far above.  The rays of moonlight struck her platinum-blonde hair, making it seem to shine along with her pale white skin that gave off it's own glow as well.  Her green Keeper eyes were lit not only by the quiet light of the stars, but also by a silent determination.  She slipped through the underbrush, easily and silently making her way towards the Eastern Shroud, which was no small feat given all that she was carrying.  The small Miqo'te had a well used, but well cared for bow hanging from her shoulder, and slung across her back was a smaller sized two-handed axe, crafted with a green metal.  Her quiver was strapped along her back as well, carefully filled with arrows, with two long bladed daggers strapped to her forearms.  Anyone who saw her would have naturally assumed she was preparing for war.  As she neared the edge of the Central Shroud she looked back up to the night sky and put her fingers to her mouth letting out two loud, shrill whistles.  Within moments, two large long tailed hawks could be heard up in the canopy above, screeching out in response.  She smiled softly as she watched the two of them circle above her and gently flap down to the ground in front of her.  She knelt down and looked to them both, smiling more brightly.  Calling them had become habitual for her.  She wanted to see them every eve at least for a little while, and they certainly didn't seem to mind spending a few short ticks with her either. 

 

   "Good eve, Freki!  Good eve, Geri!"  She knew her hawks didn't understand her speech, but it never stopped her from speaking to them anyway.  The soft sound of her voice was a tune the two birds knew well, and regardless of the context of her words, the tone of her voice was something they could certainly pick up on.  "You both look well.  I'm so glad to see you."

 

    She looked her birds over as she always did, making sure they were both still fit and healthy looking.  The two of them were natural hunters and needed no help from her to find food here in the Shroud.  She stood to her feet again and held one arm out.  She pressed her lips together and let out a single whistle of a different pitch, and the smaller of the two hawks, Geri,  lifted off into the air and flapped over to rest on her forearm clad in a light leather gauntlet.  The weight of the bird was enough that she certainly felt it, but not too much for her to handle.

    

    "Please watch over me tonight, you two...."  She gave them a sad smile now, feeling her heart race a little as she remembered what she had set out to do this eve.  "I probably won't call on either of you, I can't put you in danger.  I don't think...  I'm ready enough as your trainer for that." 

 

    As if sensing her slight mood shift, Geri let out a call in response.  The girl giggled, her mood already brighter again as she lifted her arm up and let the bird take flight once more.  She let out two more whistles, and both hawks flew up into the canopy of leaves and out of sight.  She only stood still long enough to watch them until she couldn't see them any longer, and began walking. 

 

    Her mind had been mostly at ease during the trip, but the closer she came to the farther reaches of the Eastern Shroud, the faster and louder she could feel her heart beating.  In the last three cycles, every time she had traveled east down these exact pathways, it had been with intent to visit her former home.  To be more accurate, she traveled this way to visit the ruins of her birthplace, her childhood, and her source of nightmares.  This journey was different, and the more she thought about that, the more nervous she became.  It became harder to fight the old bad habit she had, the habit of talking to herself out loud.  It was something she had developed from spending so much time in solitude, but it was bad for any activity that required silence or remaining undetected.  

 

   "What is wrong with me?"  She sighed quietly, continuing to walk.  "I'm better than this and I've faced worse already."

 

    Her plan was simple and easy.  She was going on a reconnaissance mission, but not one assigned to her by Oskar.  This was not Everwatch buisness  This was personal, and something she had to see for herself.  Her late eve patrols of the Twelveswood had shown her already that of the many bands of poachers operating here in the Shroud, the sworn enemy of her now late tribe was still among them.  It wasn't something that anyone she knew would understand.  Not Oskar, not Lady Eva, not even Nel would understand what this meant to her.  It would be impossible for her to go on with her blissful life of forgetting the things that happened three cycles ago if the Shlaivan tribe was already this close to Gridania.  She decided that she must find the location they used to use as their headquarters, their base of operations, and see what had happened with them in the three cycles that the Onai tribe were no longer around to keep them in check.  She knew that her allies in the Everwatch wouldn't understand why she had to do such a thing, and even those such as Nel, or even Kailee who would surely have came to help her regardless would only be put in danger.  She felt she had the ability to approach their base, gather enough information to judge their threat, and escape without any confrontation or complication. 

 

   It wasn't long after that when she had to move away from the familiar path to the ruins of her villiage.  The Onai had known for many cycles where the Shlaivan made their camp, but their numbers alone deterred any sort of assault by her own tribe.  She herself had seen it with her own eyes over four cycles ago.  At that time, the base itself was over twice the size of her own village, and while she didn't get a good look inside, it was clear that they kept it well guarded.  With that in mind she steeled herself as she pushed off the paths and through the underbrush farther east. 

 

   She stopped when she saw it.  Glinting in the evening light, a shiny metal contraption sitting under a poorly placed pile of leaves and branches.  She knew what it was just by the leaves placed over it.  She carefully stepped around the sharp jaws of the poacher's trap, and realized that the area around her was littered with them.  She was in their territory now.  More and more traps could easily be seen.  They were placed without care or thought, seemingly dropped and covered in haste completely at random all around the surrounding area.  She sighed out loud to herself at the sloppy disregard shown here. 

 

   "Is this what passes for poaching now?"  She said quietly to herself.

 

    Looking around, she saw many many traps, but not a single one of them had ensnared anything, or had even been triggered yet.  But it went beyond just that.  She began to examine the surroundings even more carefully, sniffing the air, listening to the sounds around her, watching in all directions, and looking down at the ground.  While she couldn't be absolutely certain of this, she was very confident that the reason nothing was being poached, was because there was nothing to poach anywhere around.  With this idea in mind, she traveled further east, paying careful attention, and becoming more and more sure of her theory with each passing step.  She was still quite a distance away from the location she knew used to be the base of their tribe, and already they entire area around had been seemingly poached of all life.  She could feel herself becoming angry and frustrated.  She could almost feel the pain being inflicted on the Twelveswood in her chest and it made her grit her teeth and clentch her fist. 

 

    Her heart sank as she neared the area that was her target location. It wasn't just wildlife now. Even the trees had been taken all around this area, with no effort to give back to the Twelveswood whatsoever. It wasn't long after when she would see why. Before her, in the distance, sat a gigantic fortress of wood. A fence at least ten full fulms tall bordered the entire area where the Shlaivan tribe used to make their camp. She circled around it from as far away as she could get while still retaining visibility on it. Other than the obvious front gate of the fence, there was no other way in other than climbing. The fence itself was carved from the living trees, and still looked like it. The fence was crude and uneven, made from unfinished tree logs with little care taken to sand or smooth any part of them. It looked like a simple task to climb. Next she needed to watch for patrols, and so far she had seen nothing of the sort. This only served to anger her further. Were the Shlaivan this lax, or had they become this arrogant?

 

    She waited a very long time before approaching the fence. She was correct, there were no patrols. The one worry she had was that her scent might be picked up, but she was a Miqo'te like all of them, and spent all her time in the Twelveswood. Her scent wouldn't be all that different from their own. She sank low and neared the fence from the rear side of the fortress. Her heart was beating fast, pumping loudly in her chest. She was nervous knowing that this was beyond dangerous, but she felt that simple observation over their wall wouldn't be detected. She wasn't going inside, but she had to know what their operation looked like inside. Her small and nimble body easily scaled the rough and uneven fence, climbing to the top to peek her head over. What she saw looked like exactly what she had feared. They Shlaivan tribe had become overgrown without the Onai to keep them in check. The base was bustling with activity inside. She could only see a small portion of the base from her vantage point at the back, but it was enough to let her know that they were a bigger threat than ever. She could hear a tall and strong looking Miqo'te woman barking orders to a row of about twelve yonger looking women. Somewhere there was a loud banging of metal on metal, likely a smith at work. She saw more women hauling what looked like weapons away and out of her line of sight. She began to strain to see higher, trying her best to focus on hanging up there and observing as much as possible, completely neglecting her flank.

 

 

    Suddenly a voice cut right through her ears and made her squeal in shock.

 

 

    "Hmue qanue kah nh'oua, Mnahri!"

 

 

    She wasn't prepared to hear a voice coming from behind her, and even less ready to hear that language. The words were spoken so fast, she couldn't even catch them. Her ears were not used to hearing that anymore and the shock almost made her fall off the wall. She turned around and jumped down, landing smoothly and looking up at the owner of the voice. Standing just seven or eight fulms away from her was the tallest, and strongest looking Miqo'te she had ever seen in her short life, and this was not the first time she had seen her, not by a long shot. Manari's eyes widened with shock and disbelief, her mouth hung open as she gasped loudly. Standing before her at five fulms and ten ilms tall, with her long flaming red hair and massive battle axe across her back was someone she thought to be dead. She could only continue to stare in disbelief as she looked over the figure of her old role model, her old mentor, the Red Fang. Her name was Nahkokko Rera, and she glared at Manari with cold eyes and her arms folded across her chest. Nahkokko spoke again, her tone more irritated this time. Once again, Manari strained to understand the words. She hadn't forgotten the language, but she hadn't said, heard, or even thought about it at all in so long.

 

 

    "Au feqine, hmue qaune kah nh'oua!"

 

 

    Manari heard every word clearly and after a few moments of letting her mind focus, the shock wore off and she easily understood her own tribe's language. It was almost jarring to have to piece together her thoughts after seeing the dead walk and having to respond in a language that was just as dead to her. Her tongue felt lazy as she used it to form the unpracticed words she hadn't used in cycles.

 

 

    <"Na.... Nakko? You're... alive? B-but how?"> Her small voice felt even smaller as struggled with her words. Her mind was racing faster than her heart as it tried to process her dead mentor standing here, at the fortress of their enemies, of all places.

 

      

    The giant Miqo'te woman didn't smile, she didn't laugh, she didn't even move. <"You know nothing, Mnahri, and that is why you still live."> She slowly unfolded her arms and raised a finger to point at Manari.  <"You are the one who should be dead.">

 

 

 

    Manari was frozen in place. Her blood felt cold, her body was shaking, her eyes were wide with shock. Her lower lip quivered as she tried desperately to grasp her own swirling thoughts and form them into words. <"Wh-what... what do you m-mean, Nakko?  Wh...  why are you here?">

 

 

    The older woman tsked loudly and lowered her hands to her sides.  She shook her head almost sadly and sighed.  She spoke softly now, and was no longer making eye contact, almost as if she were speaking to herself.  <"This is what I get for trying to go against fate.">  She seemed to hang her head in sadness, slowly reaching behind her and pulling the extremely large axe from her back one arm, and holding it down at her side. 

 

    Manari gasped loudly, taking a step back, and bumping into the fence behind her.  Nahkokko was not giving her any time to sort this whole situation out in her mind.  She wasn't supposed to even be alive, much less here at this base, and now she was drawing her weapon.  She could only stare with a scared and confused expression on her face.  No words seemed to come to her either.  Nahkokko took a step closer and held the axe in both hands now, taking up her old familiar stance.  It was one she had studied and tried to learn herself.  The older Miqo'te raised her eyes again to meet Manari's.  They were cold and stern, yet deep within them there was hesitation.  Nahkokko waivered, but only slightly. 

 

    <"I really am sorry, little Moonlight...  At least know that when it's over, you'll be with your tribe once again.">

 

    With those words, she raised her axe and took another step.  Manari's ears folded back and she felt her eyes begin to tear up.  She called her by her father's pet name.  She wanted to cry as memories of her home and her family flooded back to her, but there was no time.  Nahkokko readied her axe as an executioner would, and brought down right on top of her.  With a loud squeal, Manari rolled to the side, scrambling to get back to her feet, and looking back at Nahkokko in terrified disbelief.  With her back no longer against the fence, she began to back up slowly away from her former mentor.  She was about to utter a protest, but Nahkokko gave her no time.  The taller Miqo'te charged forward now, her axe held behind her ready to strike.  Manari only had time to grit her teeth and duck under the arc of the axe blade.  Nahkokko swung the axe around over her head to bring it straight down again, and Manari rolled to the side, causing the axe to strike firmly into the ground.  Manari pushed off with her hands and kicked the axe with both feet, knocking it out of Nahkokko's hands completely.  

 

    Manari wasted no time in leaping to her feet and fumbling around behind her back trying to draw her own axe.  Nahkokko didn't even seem to notice as she signed heavily and slowly picked up her weapon.  She hefted it up with one arm again and pointed the entire axe straight out in front of her, right at Manari.  She spoke again, this time her voice more harsh, and no longer speaking the old tongue.

 

    "Don't embarrass yourself and shame your kin, child.  Put that ridiculous toy down and accept your fate....  the fate you were pulled away from."  Nahkokko seemed to sneer at her, and gripped the axe in both hands.  

 

    "What in Menphina's name is going on!?"  Manari had tears in her eyes, but cried out in frustration.  She raised her small axe in defense and pleaded with Nahkokko.  "Please, Nakko!  Please tell me why you are doing this!  Wh-why are you alive?!" 

 

    "I won't waste my breath on those who are about to die."  She replied with a painful expression on her face. 

 

    Nahkokko had been holding back.  She was powerful and skilled, an absolute demon with the axe, and she was finished with this encounter.  She needed to end this before she lost her nerve, and let old feelings resurface and cloud her judgment.  She couldn't shake this feeling in her chest, but she could ignore it.  It was a strangely warm feeling, and she didn't want to have it there.  She scoffed at herself, gave her former pupil a cold and almost soulless look.  Manari bit her lip, obviously intimidated by the woman she used to look up to as a role model.  Without another word, Nahkokko held the axe behind her and charged Manari at full speed.  She aimed to charge right through the small Miqo'te, as as she saw Manari start to move, she let the axe loose with a wide arching swing that cut through the air with a whistling sound.  Manari had moved to parry the axe perfectly, but Nahkokko's strength was almost overwhelming.  Manari's technique was easily knocked aside by Nahkokko's power, sending the smaller Miqo'te backwards to the ground with a loud thud.  There was no smirk nor grin on Nahkokoo's face as she sensed her victory was at hand, she only swung the axe around again to deliver the death blow to Manari as she lay on the ground.  Manari rolled forward, towards her attacker and under the path of the axe blade.  She bumped into Nahkokko's legs and disturbed her balance just enough to roll past her, behind and push herself to her feet.  Manari launched a quick attempt at a counter attack to Nahkokko's flank as she pulled her large axe from the ground again, thinking she was sure to land a hit, but instead felt the heavy iron of Nahkokko's armored boots slam into her midsection as she ignored her axe and opted to throw a mule kick behind instead.  Manari was sent to the ground again, this time with a yelp of pain as she felt something inside crack, likely a rib. 

 

 

    Manari curled up into a ball and coughed harshly, grunting as the pain in her chest pulsed with her heartbeat.  Clamped her eyes shut and tried to stand back up, finally rising to her feet again.  Nahkokko has hesitated again.  When she looked up at her mentor again, she had already retrieved her weapon and was still standing with her back to Manari. 

 

 

    "You've grown a little, Mnahri.  You can even wield that axe properly now..."  Nahkokko's voice sounded sad again, and she shook her head.  "I wasn't wrong about your potential... "

 

 

    Manari was clutching her side and wincing from the pain, but she was pretty sure she could swallow it to defend herself.  She let got of her side and took her stance back up, getting her feet into place and trying to ignore her broken rib.  As soon as she felt sure of herself, she called out to Nahkokko again, still desperate for answers. 

   

 

    "Twelve damn it, Nakko!  Please, tell me what's going on!"  She yelled.

 

    "Look at you...  How dare you demand anything from me."  She hardened her expression, but couldn't hold it for long.  She drew a deep, heavy sigh.  "I can't...   The longer I look at you, the more I feel those old tinges of regret."  She turned to face Manari again, a mix of sadness and anger on her face.

 

 

    Before Manari had any chance to respond, Nahkokko was on the offensive again.  Learning from her mistakes, Manari met her charge halfway with one of her own.  The two Miqo'te almost collided, if not for Manari quickly sidestepping to attempt a side sweeping attack with her axe.  Nahkokko easily knocked the attack off to the side and pressed forward again, switching directions to stay with Manari.  Nahkokko charged again, stopping to deliver another powerful arching swing, aimed at taking off Manari's head.  Manari ducked the path of the blade and spun around with a lightning quick counter attack, but it wasn't quick enough.  The other end of Nahkokko's axe was already coming down to cover the opening, and it landed square against Manari's chest, knocking her back to the gound with another loud scream of pain.  The master had anticipated the student.  Manari felt it as clear as the sharp pain in her side, and now in her chest.  She was outclassed beyond hope. 

 

 

    Nahkokko seemed to stay her hand again as she watched the small Miqo'te writhe on the ground.  She let out another heavy sigh, looking up towards the fortress next to them, seeming to be watching for something for a moment.  The sounds of Manari grunting with each motion it took to push herself back to her feet brought her attention back to the battle at hand. 

 

    "You are fast, Mnahri, but your speed is only making this more painful for you."  Nahkokko said in an almost taunting tone.  "Lay down and let me end this quickly."

 

    "Wh... why?"  Her voice was tiny and pathetic.  She was shaking and in pain.  Her ears were flattened against her head and the tears were already running down her face.  "Na... Nakko, why?" 

 

    "Stop asking me that!" The woman barked loudly in return.  She raised her axe again and rushed at Manari, stopping just short of her and spinning around with a terrifyingly quick backswing axe slash.  Manari lept backwards, startled by the speed of the backswing, and frantically attempted to regain her balance again.  Nahkokko was not letting up this time.  She unleashed a relentless string of attacks that Manari could only avoid, not counter, especially not in her current state.  Nahkokko's giant axe blade sliced through the air with the practiced beauty of an artist at work.  Manari was terrified, and could barely keep up with the path of the axe as she desperately avoided the onslaught.  Nahkokko never overextended herself, she never left an opening for counter attack, and she never let the axe stop moving.  Manari's mind raced with panicked thoughts until suddenly she felt the same heavy iron boot slam into her side again.  She was so focused on the axe she didn't think about anything else.  Nahkokko had caught her off guard yet again.  The impact came from the same side as her already broken rib and she felt another crack.  She screamed outloud, letting a sob escape before she sank to her knees clutching her side again.  She could feel it now as she held her side.  The bones from her rib cage were loose and just touching them made her yelp as pain shot through her.  This time, Nahkokko did not yeild. 

 

 

    "I feel as if I've been swatting at an insect buzzing around my ear."  She said coldly as she stood over Manari, her axe raised above.  "Before you join your tribe, I wanted to let you know something.  Even though the Onai were weak and cowardly whores, you were still special to me."  Her eyes were still cold, but her face was conflicted.  She moved the axe to strike and her conflicted expression vanished. 

 

 

    <"Good night, sweet Moonlight!">

 

    A phrase from her past, it sent a chill down her spine.  Nahkokko brought the axe down to deliver the killing blow and Manari reacted without thinking.  Nel's training came back to her as she watched Nahkokko's hands grip the axe.  She tried to move under the path of the blade, but Nahkokko was easily able to adjust for it.  It was all she could do to lift her own axe up and lean forward into her attacker's swing.  The shaft of the axe slammed into Manari's shoulder, barely being missed by the blade.  She screamed out again and was driven to the ground again, but not before swinging her own axe, aimed for Nahkokko's hands.  Nahkokko's gave a shout of surprise as she dropped the axe just in time, causing Manari's green axe blade to splinter the wooden handle of her own. 

 

    "You little harlot...  Menphina's godsdamn whore!"  Nahkokko was furious now.  She easily kicked Manari on the ground, landing a shot square in her now-injured shoulder.  Manari sobbed in pain, not even able to clutch at all the places that hurt.  She could only curl up on the ground, crying.  Nahkokko spit on the ground and grabbed for her axe.  There was only enough room for one hand on what was left of the shaft, and it was far too difficult to wield this now horribly unbalanced weapon.  She let out a angered growl. 

 

 

    "You want know why...  figure it out in the seven hells.  No, instead I'm going to show you how."  She gripped the axe with a tight, angry hold and looked up to the canopy of leaves above.  Her mouth twisted into a horrible smirk and she yelled at the top of her lungs.  "Drakken kell, TO ME!"

 

 

    Manari started to choke back her sobs, and pushed herself back up.  She wasn't sure if she could defend herself anymore, and was struggling to even stand.  Her axe hurt just to hold, her shoulder ached with each movement.  Nahkokko's strange shouting went mostly ignored by her, instead feeling herself hurt by her insults.  But she didn't have much more time to think about it as she heard a very familiar and terrifying sound.  From all directions around her now, she saw them.  Countless pairs of red glowing eyes in the distance.  They were the red eyes from her nightmares.  Her nose confirmed it, she was surrounded by them.  Her worst fears were about to come true.

 

    Nahkokko had summoned drakes. 

 

    Manari froze with terror.  Her sobbing had stopped completely and given way to pathetic whimpers.  Her tiny voice squeaked with each step the drakes took closer to her, and Nahkokko saw every second of it.  The tall Miqo'te snapped her fingers once and every drake halted in it's tracks, snorting and huffing as they waited. 

 

 

    "Do you remember my pets, little Moonlight?  I can see that you do."  Her wicked grin only widened as she saw Manari's face frozen with absolute terror.  "I don't think I need to explain anything further, do I?  That's right, you get it now, don't you?"  She watched the pathetic Miqo'te clutch desperately at her small axe.  She quivered on her feet like a scared marmot surrounded by wolves.  Nahkokko's hand was still held up in the air from when she snapped her fingers the first time.  She only paused a moment longer.  "At least you'll die the exact same way all the Onai sluts did."  And with that she snapped her fingers again, and the drakes charged. 

 

 

    Manari's mind was white with shock.  The drakes bit her limbs and tore at her clothing.  She felt fangs biting her deep to the bone and claws slashing long cuts into her skin.  She was helpless and weak.  She lost the will to stand and fell to the mercy of the beasts.  Her mind was filled with only thoughts of her village's destruction as her body was slashed and torn.  She was ready for the embrace of death to end the pain when she felt something heavy slam into her and slice into her shoulder, breaking the bones inside.  Manari's final scream was completely silent, then everything went black as she fell unconscious. In her final cry of anger, Nahkokko had hurled her broken axe at her helpless pupil, hitting her hard in the shoulder.  As the woman stood and watched her pets tear at soul she spared three cycles ago, that feeling in her chest exploded and she called the drakes off without warning.  She walked over and stared down Manari's ragged and torn body. 

 

 

    "You're still breathing?  You'll bleed to death in a few ticks...  "  She picked up her bloody axe head, and turned around.  "If you survive this, I'll make you wish you hadn't."  And with that Nahkokko walked away, returning to the gates of the Shlaivan fortress.

 

 

    Before she reached the gate, she stopped to speak into a pearl.  No one was around to hear her words that night.  But it was also that same time that the Wood Wailers received an anonymous message that a badly injured member of the Twin Adder lay dying in the far Eastern Shroud.