linking this BeneG. video because it was direct inspiration for this set, please check it out! Also everyone say thank you @sae-mian for painting blood on ayaka again <3 <3 <3 <3
To say it was a cold day in Camp Dragonhead would have been redundant. It was always cold in Coerthas. But going by the sound of the wind howling outside, it was like to be an unpleasant night even for the knights who were accustomed to the unforgiving climate. Luckily for Haurchefant, he was indoors. Wind aside, it had been a quiet evening with nothing to distract him form the ever present paperwork that came with running an outpost of this size. While the least interesting of his responsibilities, it was arguably one of the most important, and he was not want to leave it undone for long. So there he sat behind his desk, after most save the night guards had retired, listening only to the sound of the wind, the crackling fire, and the scratching of his quill.
Until he was startled out of his focus by a slam on the great doors of the building, which swung open to reveal his favorite distraction. Ayaka Naeuri, the Warrior of Light, his dearest love. His breath caught as he laid eyes on the small Auri woman. While she was usually clad in armour, he was now gifted with a much different sight. She wore fine white clothes in the fashions of Thanalan, her waist accentuated by a tight red sash. Delicate cream colored scales accentuated the bare skin of her arms and chest; while her golden hair, usually tightly contained, was flying loose in the wind.
He was on his feet before she had even made it through the threshold.
“Ma fleur! I did not expect you at such an hour!” His excitement began to wane as he rounded his desk, observing how her scowl stayed firmly upon her face as she stalked inside with unsteady steps. “Are you alright?”
“No.” She did not deign to elaborate, and began pacing up and down the room. The movement would look angry to most, but Haurchefaunt recognized it to be an anxious one. He tried to get a better look at her now that he was closer. She looked exhausted, not to mention filthy, and was that blood on her--
“Lord Haurchefaunt! Oh, it’s most terrible indeed!”
His attention was torn from Ayaka as he realized for the first time that Alphinaud had arrived with her, looking about half as bedraggled as she did.
“Alphinaud, my boy, what in Halone’s name happened to the two of you?”
“Treachery! Mutiny! The Scions are all scattered or worse, the Crystal Braves have turned on us, and the Sultana--” When the boy choked on his words, Ayaka finished for him, her voice dripping with anger.
“Dead. That power grubbing bastard Taledji had her poisoned and had the gall to frame me for it!”
“You’re being framed for--” Haurchefaunt caught Ayaka’s arm to stall her pacing, and the sensation of cold skin caused his previous thoughts to die on his tongue. He had expected his hand to pass through a glamor, to be met with chain mail and a gambeson as she always wore, not light fabric and bare skin. “By the Fury! Did you trek through a Corthan storm on foot in- in- in your desert finery?” He all but dragged her towards the fireplace as he spoke. It was not his intention to be rough, but she was so cold- and even lighter than he remembered bereft of her equipment.
“I’m fine--”
“You’re not.”
“I’m not that cold--”
“That’s even worse,” His tone was much harsher than either were used to hearing from him, but he was successful in silencing her protests. “Next to the fire, both of you. Wet clothes off,” Alphinaud interrupted with an indignant noise. “Off, while I get you dry blankets.”
“You'll find that I wore my regular equipment to the event,” Alphinaud moved to join Haurchefaunt as he spoke. “I’m no colder than I usually am when we arrive here. I shall retire, and allow you to focus your worries on our dear warrior, as I know you are wont to do.” Dropping his voice to a whisper, he elaborated. “She refused to stop for rest or food, much less to acquire appropriate clothing. While I know it's a poor substitute, I took to healing our extremities once we were in Coerthas proper. By that point in the journey, I don't think she even noticed.” He stepped back again, returning his voice to its normal volume as he displayed his hands between them. “So you see? No danger of losing any digits to the cold.”
“That was good thinking. And thank you for telling me.”
“Yes, well, If healing is the only skill I'm good at, it would be remiss of me not to use it.”
“That is wholly untrue,” Haurchefaunt paused, noting the poorly concealed distress on the boy’s face. “But I'll allow you your rest, and we'll have the whole of it in the morning, alright?”
“Of course.” As Alphinaud made his way out of the building, Haurchefaunt returned to Ayaka’s side where she was staring almost vacantly into the fire before her. She only turned her gaze away as he pressed the folded blanket into her hands.
“If you prefer your privacy, I would inform the guards as soon as possible. It will take but a moment, and I can fetch you something clean to wear besides.”
“Oh,” Her voice came out as little more than a whisper as she briefly met his eyes for the first time since he arrived. “Yes, that's fine. Thank you, Haurchefaunt.”
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head before he stepped away, leaving her by the fireplace as he ventured out into the cold.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised to see she hadn’t moved an ilm by the time he came back.
“Ayaka?”
“I can't…”
“My dear?”
“I can't, it's all knots, I--” she opened and closed her hands between them, unable to make a proper fist. Thankfully, due to Alphinaud’s interventions, her hands showed no signs of cracking or the black of frostbite. But they were still an angry red, and shaking. Actually, most of her was shaking. He wondered just how long she’d been on her feet.
“It's alright now,” He stilled her hands with his as he knelt, and for once he was the one looking up to meet her eyes. “If you would allow me?”
She simply nodded in response, worrying at her bottom lip as he turned his attention to the offending garment. It was not a terribly complicated shirt, but it was held in place by fashionable sashes and ties which had become tangled and tight.
“As lovely as you look, I must say I'm surprised to see you without your armor.”
“And arms.” She grumbled in response, drawing attention to the fact that she was indeed unarmed. In fact, it seemed she was without anything except a small compact pouch strapped to her thigh, likely designed to not draw attention away from the rest of her ensemble. He suspected it fit little more than her journal, which she was loath to ever let out of her sight.
“Is there a reason you chose to go without?”
“Instead of using a glamour, you mean? As would have been wise?”
“I did not say that.”
“I- It was a banquet. A peaceful celebration. Tataru- Tataru insisted I should feel pretty, as well as look it.”
“And did you?”
“I- that- well- that doesn't matter!”
“It does matter. I would not bother to ask otherwise.”
“No, it doesn’t. I gave into this- this frivolity and I was completely unprepared!” “I was empty handed and she’s now she’s dead and everyone is gone and I-”
“Do you think you could have changed the outcome if you had been armed?”
“I don’t- maybe, I-”
“Did you have such an opportunity? You cannot prepare for every eventuality. I’ll not let you punish yourself for the actions of others.”
“I- You’re right.”
“So?”
“Yes. I did.”
“Good.” He pressed a kiss to her temple as he let the sashes drop and he pushed the rest to the snow and sweat soaked shirt from her shoulders. A warm, dry blanket replaced it ere the cloth had hit the ground, or he pulled away. He heard her give a quiet chuckle beneath him, and looked to see a soft, tired smile on her face.
“You can look, you know. I don't mind.”
“Glad I am to hear it. But I would prefer to admire you hale and whole,” He reached out to cup her face in his hand, thumb brushing at a dried tear. “And much happier.”
At the soft gesture her expression changed once again, this time towards tears, as she crumpled into his arms and buried her face into the crook of his neck. He held her close as she quietly wept. It was not long until the exhaustion of the day took hold, and she lay still in his arms. There was naught for the knight to do but to wrap the blanket securely around her, lift her into his arms, and carry her safely to bed.
