The Goblet, Rendezvous of Stars Mansion, Thanalan
Kiht’s feet slowly pressed against the hardwood floor as she sat up on the edge of her bed. Her groggy gaze examined the infirmary room with mild confusion, but the look soon faded from her face, and her attention turned to her legs.
She slowly put pressure on them as she stood. Her tentative movements betrayed her hesitation, but she continued in anticipation. Nothing happened. She hopped in place a few times as if testing her legs, but she didn’t wince or feel pain. She let out a sigh of relief, and her manner grew pensive.
Her head hung slightly low as she stood motionless. Moments passed before she drew a knife from her belt. Her casual, tribal clothes were all she wore to sleep, but even in safety, Kiht was always armed. She studied her blade - a clean, steel hunting knife with a handle made of ancient wood. A raptor eye insignia had been carved into the handle. Slowly, her head lifted with intent, and she slipped the blade back into its sheath on her belt.
She gathered a white linkpearl from her satchel bag left next to the bed then brought it to life with her own aether before speaking into it “Tefh, are you there?”
“Aye sis, I’m ‘ere. What do you need?”
“I need a specific set of my belongings brought to the Shroud,” Kiht said then paused. “And I need my raptors. Meet me in South Shroud in the Lower Paths, and bring Jahk, Arri and Kedha’a.”
“Must be some serious shite goin’ on for you,” Tefh responded.
“Indeed, shite I am ready to help put an end to.”
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Lower Paths, South Shroud
The forest greeted Kiht with its usual, consistent sounds. Birds chirped, frogs croaked and giant tortoises rumbled in the distance. The Lower Paths maintained an eerie stillness as much life could be heard, but not easily seen.
She stood in the open with an alert gaze, and a spear leaning on her shoulder. She watched the tree line as she awaited to see if the next Moon-keepers to emerge would be poachers or family. Figures approaching down the road soon answered her. Three Keeper women and one Keeper man with two raptors in tow came into view, and Kiht breathed a sigh of relief.
“Kiht, what’s goin’ on?” asked the only red-headed Keeper in the group. Jahk’s small stature contrasted her perpetually irritable expression.
The two raptors let out high-pitched calls and dashed to Kiht’s side to greet her. Their small winglets flapped wildly as they bowed their heads to the touch of her hands. She pulled two small fish from her satchel, and then gave each raptor a tasty reward for their loyalty. “I missed you two,” she muttered softly to them then regarded her cousin.
“A friend of mine has been attacked. I am dealing with smart voidsent, and they are far more organized than your typical horde.” Kiht closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but all that came of her moment of pause was a scowl. “I will not stand for it,” she growled. “There are many reasons to -hate- this group of voidsent, but it became personal now.”
“We’re with you, cousin, I brough’ the war paint. Let’s murder these monsters!” Jahk interjected.
“You want to drag the family into this?” Kedha’a added.
“Shut it, male,” Jahk blurted out as she swiftly turned to face Ked, and just as Kiht opened her mouth to speak.
“-You- shut it,” he responded.
“Silence for a Gods dammed tick!” Kiht shouted as she balled her fists. “I do -not- want the family dragged into this. This is not just some gathering of voidsent in the Shroud. It is a group that infests a noble house of Ishgard. We are not going to just -raid- it or some shite like that.”
The four Keepers all regarded Kiht with surprised faces. Though Ked’s face could only be guessed at due to his ash mask that he almost always wore.
“I brought you here not to help me fight, but to bring my raptors, pass me my things and relay a message to Matron Kihra. They may be tracking me, so I cannot stay with the family. I think it best that the family resettle to one of the secret points.”
“Nay, let us ‘elp you. That’s what families are for. I’ve killed voidsent before!” Jahk eagerly objected as she leaned forward to emphasize her willingness.
“Nay, Jahk. Our family needs to rebuild. We have taken enough losses fighting the battles of others,” Kiht responded as she crossed her arms.
“Then why do you fight the battles of others?” Ked asked in his usual, calm tone.
“Because this was never supposed to be a battle. It began as a mere favor to a friend, and it was never supposed to be dangerous. But it grew into the shite it has now, and what kind of reputation would the Jakkya gain if we backed out of something just because it got dangerous?” Kiht shook her head several times. “Nay, I started on this without the consent of the family, so I will not suddenly drag them into it just because things have gotten dangerous.”
The four Keepers regarded Kiht quietly as a moment passed. Eventually, Arri took a step forward. The lengthy bangs of her black hair nearly shrouded the concern in her blue eyes. “Even if you started on it alone, you don’t ‘ave to finish it alone,” she said without hiding the worry in her voice.
Kiht grew a slight smile as her gaze settled on the youngest of the five Keepers present. “Worry not; I am not alone in this. I will count on you four to watch over the family.”
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East Shroud greeted Kiht and her raptors much like South Shroud. The usual cacophony of bird and insect noises were like many kinds of chimes and bells all ringing to different influences. The many paths through the area of the forest were starting to over-grow with weeds, and the Keeper passed scarce Gridanian patrols. The tension once held in the air by the presence of the Garleans occupying Castrum Orriens was gone, and this patch of the Shroud no longer presented itself as a potential warzone.
After a time of traveling, she spotted the familiar sight of glowing fungi and manipulated plant-like structures of Little Solace. The thick canopies of East Shroud kept the area dim which made the glow of the Sylph settlement appear brighter. Fireflies hovered around the settlement, dancing through the air akin to how the Sylphs themselves often interacted with each other.
Once Kiht closed a respectable distance between her and the settlement’s entrance, she glanced to each of her raptors and spoke to them in a series of clicks in whistles while relieving them of their saddle-packs. The raptors moved off as they understood the Huntspeak commands. The larger Shroud raptor dashed off to encircle the Sylph settlement while the smaller grass raptor moved the opposite direction.
Kiht drew out a dark object from her satchel belt - a wooden whistle shaped like a bird of prey. She blew on it gently to create a shrill whistle that stood out from the sounds of birds and bugs, and after pocketing the whistle, she held out her arm like an inviting tree branch.
Moments later, a small falcon landed on Kiht’s arm. The Keeper smiled and met the gaze of his yellow irises with her blue ones. The two stared at each other for uncounted moments. Sounds of the forest were drowned out by her focus on Haru, and his focus on her rendered him motionless like a statue.
No commands were spoken, but something unheard and unseen prompted Haru to open his wings and lift off into the air with purpose. Kiht watched him fly off beyond the canopies as she lowered her arm. The sounds of the forest soon returned to her notice. She continued to the entrance of Little Solace after picking up several of her packs.
Two Sylphs tasked with watching the entrance regarded Kiht with their expressionless faces. Their dark eyes betrayed nothing, but the subtle motions they made as they hovered were dances of wariness. Kiht glanced to each Sylph but spoke no words. She halted and dropped her packs then unbuckled most of her armor.
The Keeper was free of all physical burdens besides her clothing. Her expression held a neutral tranquility, and she slowly raised her hand as if to examine it. Her motion was soon followed by the extending of her arm and subtle shifting of her hips. One foot stepped at an angle different from the other, and her lower legs crossed to send her into a slow twirl.
Kiht moved her arms as if they were gliding through water, her tail trailed behind her like a ribbon and her body shifted with each step and further twirling. Her graceful dance grew faster and faster, but moments later, she stopped. Her gaze returned to the Sylph guards.
“This one greets walking one”, one of the guards said while changing her hovering motions to a less subtle series of movements that betrayed more energy and less fear.
“This walking one is known walking one,” the other guard added while motioning in a similar dance.
“Indeed, I have trade to offer. I would like to trade goods for other goods and trade for shelter,” Kiht responded.
The Sylphs turned to each other then back to Kiht. “For shelter, walking one must speak to elder one.”
The Miqo’te bowed her head. “Very well.”
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Little Solace was crowded with Sylphs, and the biggest open space was the path that lead through the settlement. The social plant-people danced about, turning mundane daily tasks into displays of art and expression. However, Kiht found the one isolated corner of the settlement between two rock formations near a small river. She unpacked a large assortment of gear and objects from three travel packs then took a cross-legged seat on the grassy ground.
As Kiht’s raptors patrolled a respectable distance from Little Solace to avoid scaring the Sylphs, Haru circled in the sky above to keep a bird’s eye view on the settlement and surrounding area. The Keeper huntress unpacked a whetstone to sharpen her steel hunting knife and trio of spears. Tedious bells later, she found her two knives made of mythril. She poured an aether crystal concoction onto the blades to help the whetstone sharpen the special metal.
Once the weapons were done being tended, she crushed red berries in a small ceramic bowl with a finger-shaped stone and collected river water to dilute the substance which took on the color of blood. As she let the substance settle in the bowl, she soaked a cloth in river water then wiped clean the black paint markings around her eyes.
When finished, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the calm-flowing river water. Her clear face looked back at her with an appearance far more innocent than she was. Her short hair and unmarked face stirred memories in her mind.
“I remember you,” she mused quietly to herself. “I thought I had not changed, but you… You feel like a lifetime ago.”
She pushed herself away from the water’s edge then sat in front of her bowl of red paint made from Soldier’s Sore berries. Her fingers dipped into the substance and slowly drew out a tiny portion. She regarded the paint for a moment with a pensive gaze.
“Whatever is left of my old innocence must remain buried a while longer,” she declared to herself then began to apply the paint to her face. “By the light of the Moon, and amidst the sacred Twelveswood, I swear to you, Menphina, that I will serve you as a warrior,” she prayed with a determined tone. “This has gone far beyond Verad.”
Once the markings were done, she let the poisonous paint dry on her skin. Fortunately, it was only poisonous if consumed. Next, she took her mythril knives and unscrewed the endcaps of the handles. She affixed a Sylph glamor into a slot inside each cap then screwed them back onto the knives. She slipped the blades into twin sheathes on her lower back, and they suddenly disappeared from sight. She repeated the task with four throwing knives and sheathed her only unglamored steel knife on her thigh boot.
Kiht took up her double-bladed spear and disassembled it back into twin batons that she slipped into holsters on her back. Her other two spears were retrieved from their place on the ground then bound together with twine. She slung them over her shoulder like she would another pack then gathered up the rest of her stuff.
The Sylphs in the settlement continued their usual antics as Kiht made her way out. After a sun’s preparation, she was no longer in need of their shelter. The Keeper paced out the entrance to Little Solace then let out a whistle soon after. Moments passed before Dirk and Estoc rushed to her position.
She secured the packs to the raptors’ saddles then continued onward down the path in which she came. It was time to return to Vylbrand.
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