Honor and Duty - (OOC welcome)

[Melodia]

*I intend for this to be the interlude between the events of Skin in the Game thread and the multiple threads of Ruru with Zhavi before. This will cover the time gap between those. Please feel free to comment OOCly.

 

It had been more suns than he could count and she had still not made contact. Not a word. Not a whisper. He patrolled the docks per usual, hiding his alarm at the sudden absence under a stern face, keeping up his appearance with the Heavy Handers.

 

He was worried. No one had been in touch and Ruru was feeling suddenly alone in this undercover role in a world he was still learning. As he closed the end of his shift, one of the senior members, a sellsword by the name of Artis called him over. The big Roe grinned as Ruru approached.

 

"Hey Flit....another day in the books, ey?" He was friendly and smiling. Ruru nodded, his eyes looking up to familiar face. "Aye...another day."

 

Artis looked to him and frowned slightly before he beamed happily. "'Ey the the couple of us're headed to get some drinks....new place down the way called the Rum 'n Rumble. You wanna join us?"

 

Ruru shook his head with a sad smile. "No, you all head on without me. I'm meeting someone in a bit." Artis nodded and patted him on the head gently. "Buck up little man. I hear the captain's been tossin' yer name about for a bit more serious work. That's a good thing." Ruru looked on with a bit of surprise and then smiled. "Aye...that's a good thing." He was never getting out of this. He was beginning to feel it as each day burned and he was alone.

 

No yer not.

 

There she was. It was time to go. "Enjoy the drinks, Artis. And I'll see you tomorrow, same time." Artis gave him a mock salute as Ruru turned and headed home, trudging past the same faces he'd seen day in and day out, new ones cropping up from time to time. The voice was still buzzing in his head and as he entered his apartment and took off his armor, getting comfortable, taking the half empty bottle of whiskey from the table he leaned back in his chair and stared across the room.

 

There she was.

 

Standing as clear as day in his room, the grouchy unkempt Miqo'te as he last remembered her. He spoke before taking a heavy drink of whiskey from the bottle. "Hello Kink."

 

"Flit....why're ye drinkin' that swill? Couldn't afford anything better?" She was mocking him, teasing as she always did.

 

"Well, this is what I can afford. Not like you care anyway." He took another long drink.

 

"Awww poor Flit, yer breakin' my heart." Her tone was mocking again and she snickered as he drank.

 

"You going to sit?" She never did. She was not the sitting type. Another drink, he had sunk into the chair was lounging lazily, watching his partner...

 

"Partner? Hells Flit ye couldn't find yer arse from that mug o' yers. How could you call yerself my partner?" She paced around the room coming close to him and she gave a mock frown. "And again, just a 'partner'? Yer breakin' my heart Flittermouse." She'd made the gesture of holding her hand to her chest, a wounded look crossing her face before she snickered again.

 

He felt his eye twitch and he took a long drink before muttering quietly. "Be quiet....you're not even real."

 

She laughed and he sat, to an outsider if they could see, alone in the apartment, nursing his whiskey and wondering how long this would continue.

[Melodia]

The woman fell dead at his feet. She hadn't even known he was in her home, and the blade had hit hard. As she bled out before him, Ruru stepped back and sheathed the sword taking in a deep breath and letting out an audible sigh of exhaustion. He hadn't slept in some suns and he'd neglected his hygiene. Making his way through the home he looked through the belongings of the woman before finding what he'd been hired to collect. It was a set of rings, nothing particularly fancy or special. He put them in his pocket and was preparing to go.

 

Did ye make sure ye weren't seen? She wasn't teasing. She mentoring.

 

"Aye. I was quiet and she was alone." He whispered as he paused in his walk out.

 

An' now go give yer blessin' to the Handers little Flit. Make sure ye shine yer knees and pucker up while ye do." That was a scold and he froze.

 

"I'm kissing no one's ass." He said but didn't sound confident.

 

Are ye sure? Takin' on Handers contracts an' droppin' this lady fer a couple o' trinkets. An' here I thought you were a stand up guy." Her arms were crossed with a smirk on her face.

 

"You know why I'm doing this. I need to keep you safe. Keep your cover in tact." He was walking again, and at each turn there she was. Zhi with the scowl, the hard look like he'd insulted her. As he exited the building and hit the grasslands, he could hear behind him.

 

Oh! So yer savin' me Flit? Yer keepin' me safe from the big bad world I thrive in?  Killin' folks for worthless rings an' savin' me all at the same time.Yer my hero, Flittermouse."  The sarcasm dripped from every word and he scowled.

 

"I'm helping you..." His words were muttered as he passed a group of travelers and he appeared to be a bit strange, speaking to himself as he walked to return the rings to his employer and collect his money.

[Melodia]

Ruru slumped into the chair in his apartment and tossed his back, exhausted. His hands were still bloody and he grimanced pushing the last words of the old man out of his head.

 

"Please! I-I'll pay..you can tell them I'll p-pay. My grandson has the money....please....my wife...don't let her find me like th-"

 

He closed his eye and sat up reaching over to the table for his bottle of whiskey, now warm and had been sitting for at least a day.

 

Let me pour ye a drink. He looked and saw her pouring the whiskey into a glass. An outsider would have seen him pouring his own glass absentmindedly. She offered the glass to him with a smirk and he shook his head, the blood smearing along the glass as he took a sip.

 

Big hero at it again. What'd this one do, Flit? Ferget t' polish his boots? Oh! Or maybe he was late t' work one day. That'd warrant yer amazin' skills at knockin' off the right people. She glared at him and grinned that toothy grin he'd become accustomed to as she sat on the table before him. Tell me I'm warm an' I promise t' leave ye be.

 

"He didn't pay his debt." He sounded cold, flat...as if lost in thought while he took another sip.

 

Oh well, that's th' one then. Ferget ol' Tabert, or hells even yer own brother! That's th' one needin' a blade in his throat. Drink up. Ye've earned it. She'd hissed the last words and he scowled.

 

"Well at least I'm here...making sure no one's after you. You decided to run off."

 

She was gone and he smirked taking a drink.

 

"Exactly."

[Melodia]

The man had fled all the way to Coerthas and here he was, tucked away in some cave, shivering and pissing his pants looking down at the one-eyed Lalafell clad in black holding a sword to his heart. The young Hyur (maybe 18 at best) was weeping and Ruru stared coldly at him, a dead eyed stare that reached into the man's soul and quashed any hope for salvation.

 

"Please....I-I was going to pay them back...."

 

With a soft whisper he said a single word. "Hush."

 

The man froze and whimpered, not wanting to upset the lalafell but then it was too late. With a smirk, Ruru drove his blade forward, sending it deep into the man's chest. With the younbg man crumpling to the ground against the dimly lit cave wall, and visible cold gasps of air growing fainter and less constant, Ruru , leaned in and grabbed his chin with a gloved hand. "You shouldn't have taken what wasn't yours, boy." With eyes that seemed to be heavier by the second, the young man passed and Ruru pulled his blade out, sheathing it with the blood still on the blade. He took a moment and sighed before reaching into the man's coat and retrieving a small pouch of coins, and a key. "Stupid bastard."

 

That's ironic comin' from ye. Her voice echoed in the cave and as he turned, seeing her bundled in a coat, he scoffed.

 

"Never seen you dressed up for the cold before. You didn't need to follow me here you know. could have waited back in Limsa." He began to leave the cave, exiting into the bright sunlight and the heavy Coerthas snow. He pulled his hood up, and closing his coat he strode away from the cave toward the asrea he'd tied his Chocobo.

 

Well ye brought me, so's hard t' not come. An ye called him a stupid bastard. She smirked and her pace was even with his, and she'd pulled up a scarf over face, cursing. An' ye didn't have t' bring me ye know.

 

He laughed aloud. "As if I have a choice."

 

Always have a choice Flit.

 

He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her while the winds howled around him. "Oh really? Always? Like in Ul'dah? With Kage and Natalie? I had a choice there? With Suri? And even with you? I'm never the one in control....it's always someone else....well not ANYMORE!" He shouted the last word and in the distance a howl of a Snow Wolf could be heard.

 

Listen t' ye. Blatherin' on like a child. As per th' usual. Ye keep blamin' everyone else an' takin' no responsibility for yer own bullshit. An' now ye run around killin' these halfwits, old bastards, an' even women. Fer what? Some coin an' some booze. Yer mother'd be proud. She hissed the last words and Ruru gasped in shock before he grimaced with a scowl.

 

"All this? Is for YOU! Gods damn you!" He stormed off, footsteps crunching in the snow as he approached his loyal chocobo. He began to hook into the stirrups and managed to get himself up on the mount looking down on Kink with a stern face. "Someday you'll realize how I feel and you'll appreciate the work I am doing to protect you." He took a deep breath and began to ride, while the fading voice in his ear continued.

 

All this good work yer doin'. I had ye wrong th' whole time Flit...yer th' savior o' me and th' city.

 

He focused on the road ahead and whispered to himself, almost absentmindedly. "You're damn right."

[Melodia]

-Closed-