#fiachna

[a-998h]

[crimsonfluidessence]

Prompt 30: Two Heads Are Better Than One

Esredes' heart dropped when he approached the remains of the village. The blizzard and hail combination last night had left more damage than he anticipated- roofs were caved in or full of holes, the very foundations were blown to the side or partially collapsed, and while it looked like no one had died, they were all huddled around fires shivering. Everything looked absolutely and utterly miserable.

"We're going to have to put aside the week to repair this," Esredes said to the little group he'd brought along. He'd thought it would be enough just to have a trusted circle of Mythirel, Marcelloix, Heilyn, Vette, Fiachna- whose sister Niamh had also decided to come, to which Esredes only reclutantly allowed- and Marchand was there too, he supposed. The man had technically joined them, and he might make himself useful on this task. But even despite these two uneasy allowances, as Esredes surveyed the extent of the damage done to the village their movement was taking shelter in, it was not near enough to make quick progress. Oh, they would all be suffering the entire week.

"Maybe I can convince a couple more people to come out here," Esredes said with a sigh as he tapped his linkpearl. Elouan was not a member of the movement proper, but he trusted him with this affair at the least. He explained the situation over the pearl to him and luckily, just as Esredes anticipated, he agreed to come right over and help.

"Let's get to work in the meantime," Esredes said. "I'll call over as many of the movement as available as the week goes on. With luck, we'll have this all functional by the end of the week." For now, he sent Fiachna off on that messenger task and got to work with the rest of the crew. Marchand made himself useful hauling the supplies and materials they did manage to bring along as well as those too injured to move around properly, while Heilyn got to work repairing the damage, even though it quickly became apparent it wouldn't be enough. Vette kept the campfires roaring and otherwise provided heat to the villagers who weren't lucky enough to be blooded with fire, melting away ice and snow that was in the way of them making any progress. Esredes tag-teamed with Marcelloix to haul and assist with the basic repairing he could do, transforming frequently to help hold things into place for others to nail down or get people and materials onto the roof.

The little group worked away for a couple hours, and had barely made a dent in the work. A couple little houses looked in better shape now, but far from finished, the debris from the storm to clear out seemed endless, and they didn't have nearly enough materials to keep at this forever. That's when Esredes heard his name with a familiar cheerful voice, and when he turned around his heart rose and dropped in equal measure. Elouan had showed up, as promised, along with Fiachna making his return. But with him he'd brought an entire crowd of others. Andromeda, Mercer, Aloysia, Ryousei, Majalis, Leigh, Alvere, Fuyu, Kainen, Azarah, Alastor, and for some reason even Ross who Esredes barely remembered the name of were all there too- along with an apparent delivery of more supplies, with a note from Adel saying they were from an anonymous wealthy source. And to all of it, Esredes blinked several times in a row. This village was confidential. It was private. The last thing these people needed was for their peace and solitude away from Ishgard to be disturbed by outsiders who could come back and mean them harm- No, no. Esredes, for once, quieted the thought as it came. These were not loyalists or outsiders, these were his trusted friends and associates that had come to help. A smile came to his face, and with it, the work continued.

Andromeda was familiar with handling housing in the cold- Shiva bless her country Garlean origins- and immediately helped lead and assist the rest in where to repair and bolster the damage done to the buildings, as well as having come with more materials of her own, and putting that magitek of hers to heal the injured with Fuyu. Mercer was good with lifting the heavier things and hammering, but he also got to work fixing broken metal. Meanwhile, Ryousei was on watch duty, surveying ahead to be sure the area was clear of any actually unwanted visitors who could try and bring the entire place down. You never knew even in this post-war world. Majalis and Leigh were focused on distributing supplies to ensure everyone remained warm and fed, Leigh coming with jarred foods and spare blankets, and once that was done Majalis moved on to assist Fiachna and Niamh with repairs. Kainen used his Dragoon jumping to more easily move materials around. Azarah and Vette both assisted Aloysia and Rossignol with getting a pot of soup going for everyone, a combination Esredes couldn't voice his protest to until it was too late. Aloysia insisted the vague, mushy concoction they had made tasted good, but Esredes wasn't about to trust it for a moment. Fortunately, Vette, Alvere, and Leigh came to the rescue, adding in the right ingredients to make it palatable.

By the time everyone settled down with the soup, the progress had made leaps and bounds compared to where it was at before backup arrived. And with the promise of more people coming tomorrow thanks to Fiachna's messaging, it looked like they might have this village fully functional again by the end of the week indeed. People settled in, villager and helper talking to one another around bowls of soup, exchanging ideas and learning about each other, and with the multiple sources of fire the cold Coerthan night felt warmer than it would have all alone. Esredes closed his eyes. All of this reminded him of when they had worked on the Firmament together- but that had been everyone, and for the whole good of Ishgard. This? Coming out to help him and his so far away from the center of Coerthas? He couldn't help but smile, and something in his active mind slowed down. Perhaps he needed too many reminders that the people around him were to be loved and trusted, but moments like this kept his hope alive for the future. He didn't dare think that someday soon everything would end, and this could be the future he lived in. Yet ever since the end of the world came and went, he'd also felt like something had really changed, and this sight was yet more proof of it. The future, as always, remained cloudy, murky, and uncertain- but as the group settled in for the night to get back to work tomorrow, everything felt at ease in the world.

[karvivore]

🌕 Commission for @melanc0ffee 🌕

[melanc0ffee]

hi, here’s a meme I put way too much effort into :) also just the version without the text because I think it looks neat

but anyway, this is Fiachna! he’s a bastard (affectionate) and I want you all to perceive him :)c

[tiredsmolhufflepuff]

Please ask me about my ocs from their own story I’m developing!

Markos “Mars” Aelius “Acacius” Tiberius “Ba’al” [Bonded “Vulpis”] Fiachna “Sigurd”  Esther “Corvus” [Bonded Thanatos “Morana”] 

And my KHR ocs!

Aleksander “Loki” Hibiki Vasco

[crimsonfluidessence]

Prompt 1: Steer

Content Warning: Fantasy Racism, mentions of vomit, Endwalker Spoilers

There were many good things about Esredes choosing to have joined the Contingency and push himself north to Ilsabard. He saved people, he got to join a new organization, he saw more of the world- even if it was a hellscape- and most of all, he made new friends.

Making new friends was usually a good thing, but they could be very... eccentric, sometimes. Perhaps Esredes should have known better himself when he took the Pureblood former chief medicus of a legion he met in the Contingency to an Ala Mhigan and Radz-at-han fusion cuisine restaurant and insisted everyone try the spicy curry challenge. The discussion had been on Chocobos, and then it had quickly devolved.

"They are scary creatures," Andromeda, the defector medicus, had remarked about them. "I can't imagine what kind of strong will you must have to tame one... I think I'll stick to my car." Esredes tensed up at the mention of a car. "Speak for yourself." He said, quickly. "I'm not going near those evil devices." "Oh! You still have yours?" Ryousei, the half-Garlean, said to that. "I lost mine back home..." "I do! Well, scraps of it... it was pink! I named her Ladybug!" "Id love to take a look at it some time... i-if you don't mind. I used to work on mine with my... dad." His expression deflated. "What's a car?" Added Fiachna, one of the newer members of the network. "An unsafe metallic abomination." Esredes explained. He knew. Oh, did he know about cars, enough to say he never wanted to be near one ever again.

It was another cold night in Garlemald with the light of the full moon, and he had a mission. A mission to deal with a stray roader attacking carriages between camp and Tertium over the past several nights. That by itself made sense to him- destroy the moving target. He had some means of doing that with assistance, so it should be entirely doable. And then the rescued Garlean in charge who was all too trigger happy told them *how* they would lure it out.

With cars, as they called them. Several of them had been prepared for the task. Esredes stood by the lineup of them and just stared the metal carriages down. He'd seen so many destroyed ones among the wreckage that he didn't register there was a functional version in any form. And there was no Chocobo, but it wasn't an airship or manacutter, so how would it move without the air? He didn't know, and he wasn't exactly eager to find out. Knowing Garleans, it had a self-destruct mechanism for no reason just to kill more people upon destruction. What was a Garlean if not to kill everyone without a pearl on their forehead? Needless to say, Esredes was very reluctant to step into the passenger seat after fumbling to figure out how to get inside, but the task asked him to, so he reluctantly did. And it wouldn't be long before he regretted that choice.

Fast. Too fast. Whatever this thing was, it was entirely too fast, and he was used to flying. But something on the ground should never be able to pick up the speeds the thing accelerated to almost immediately. Esredes was all at once hopeless and helplessly trapped inside the vehicle, as trying to get out would most certainly kill him, but he could do nothing to slow it down as it drove across snow. Even worse, when they did find the target, the roader was covered in armor and opened fire on them with several guns, causing Esredes to yelp and duck down in the abomination to avoid being killed on impact then and there, only managing to raise up the metal on his gauntlet up to protect the driver from the bullets. To deal with the open fire, the car spun for a long moment to evade it. Esredes' urge to throw up increased as he gripped onto the seat for dear life. Another member of the party, the insane lunatic, thought it would be a great idea to jump onto the roader and take care of it that way. He was proven very wrong when the thing threw him right towards Esredes, the impact slamming his head into the back of the seat. The world quickly faded to static and limited sensations as he slid down and didn't get back up, not until the throbbing in his head began to alleviate enough for him to try and scramble up in the seat. For a small mercy, he managed to avoid emptying everything he had that day into the snow. But the moment the car stopped, he fumbled with the latch in a desperate escape to get out, and stumbled and half-tripped onto the pavement. He managed to pull himself back up into a stumble across camp until he could throw himself into bed and try not to focus on how much his head hurt.

"I see." Fiachna said to his comment in the present. "I'll avoid it, then." Andromeda, unfortunately, did not take the hint. "Cars are great! I have to take you for a drive, Ser Esredes!" "No," he said harshly, immediately. "Not. Ever. Throwing up once was more than enough." "What?" Ryousei said. "Aw cmon, car rides are a great way to relax honestly..." "It can play music and go REALLY fast!" She went on. "Ladybug had a V8 engine! She could really burn Ceruleum!!" "It can play music? Can I race a car?" Asked Fiachna. "I want to race a car. I can go faster."

Esredes sighed and kept eating the kibbeh appetizer they'd ordered. And yet, they kept going. "I loved racing!" Andromeda declared. "Oo, and obstacle courses! Spinouts... All sorts of things!" Ryousei chuckled. "Go figure, of course you're a speed demon, doc." "Did you know cars can go so fast the tires burn out??" "We should race." Fiachna declared. "Of course!!" Andromeda said. "Nothing better than pushing magitek to the BRINK! Once, I almost crashed into the side of a mountain!"

Esredes couldn't believe what anyone was saying right now. Garleans were truly insane, even the reasonable ones like her. Why were they like this. Why were they so wired to destroy themselves and others with their horrible contraptions. Between the creepy sounds playing from those devices that protected people from tempering, these things, and their traffic control having guns, Esredes was convinced good Magitek could only come from Ishgard itself. Not from the ones who wanted to destroy everything with it constantly.

Fiachna went on about wanting to race a car, until everyone's spicy curry they ordered for the spice challenge arrived. This relief gave Esredes the excuse he needed to hold a hand up. "All right. Enough car talk. I propose a countdown." It was time for everyone to die. When he hit zero, everyone took the first bite of the unreasonably spicy curry. Only Esredes and one other made it past the second round, only to meet their match. It didn't take long for both Andromeda and Ryousei to be freaking out about the heat. Andromeda grabbed Ryousei and declared, loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear,

"We are GARLEAN. WE WILL NOT SUCCUMB."

And that is how Esredes felt a big wave of secondhand embarrassment in the middle of the Ala Mhigan Thavnairian fusion cuisine restaurant for who he came along with. This is what you wanted, he reminded himself. For Garleans to be refugees in Eorzea and learn to be human by exposure and monitoring. So in the middle of the Ala Mhigan Thavnairian fusion cuisine restaurant, Esredes leaned back and sighed to himself. It would continue to be an ongoing process, to try and fix a defective peoples. But if he didn't try, what kind of follower of Shiva- and friend besides- was he?

So Esredes continued to listen and watch their theatrics in the restaurant, but when the embarrassment finally faded, he smiled a little. As per usual, these were his works in progress. And it was his duty not just to watch them improve, but to have some fun in the process.

[melanc0ffee]

GIMME

🥞💥🕷️ for Grey

🕷️🌌🎭 for Fiachna

THROTTLES YOU

JHGFGHJ ATTACKING ME??

GREY:

🥞 PANCAKE: gonna call out my dearly beloved Grey here and say that they often forget to eat breakfast and need to take care of themselves better lmao. BUT their ideal comfort breakfast would honestly be nothing more than some coffee and pancakes with whatever the equivalent of syrup is in their world, they don't crave anything fancy c: (but if someone offered them something "fancier" they wouldn't say no, they'd think it was sweet)

💥 COLLISON: Grey tends to be pretty good at regulating and dealing with their emotions for the most part, but they do tend to struggle with actually talking about the more intense emotions like depression with others... They tend to clam up and try to figure things out by themselves even though they are great at helping others process and work through similar situations. They definitely need to take their own advice but they're working on it!! Also exhaustion I guess?? They don't let themselves rest enough :( They also don't enjoy being angry, even though they know that anger has its time and place

🕷️ SPIDER: Grey's biggest fear is losing everyone they love and care about. They've already lost their parents to a horrifically violent situation, so the idea that they could lose their significant other and all their friends in a similar manner?? it absolutely paralyzes them with fear and they dread it every single day. As for irrational fears, they technically have one, but I would almost call it more of an irrational superstition than a fear: the sun makes them nervous because everything awful that has happened to them has been on a sunny day :)

FIACHNA:

🕷️ SPIDER: Fiachna's biggest fear is actually incredibly similar to Grey's! :) He cares about far fewer people than they do (mostly just his wife), and unfortunately for him, his biggest fear actually came to fruition because of his own actions. I don't want to get too much into spoilers, but oh buddy, you fucked up immensely. He's also afraid of iron since he's a fae/fae-adjacent creature, but it's neither an irrational one nor as worrisome as losing the person he cares about.

🌌 MILKY WAY: Fiachna was heavily inspired by the púca from Celtic mythology! They're shapeshifting trickster creatures, and what better creature is there to represent a bastard character? >:)c Pretty much the first thing I decided about him was that he was a bastard, but once I started to develop him more, he changed SO MUCH. One thing was making him trans, because that has honestly given me so much more material to work with him and it makes me INSANE. Also this song in particular was what really inspired me to develop him more: https://open.spotify.com/track/4bd2syoHunggIjewdw8KiA?si=95d040e401e24b3d

🎭 MASKS: shockingly, Fiachna actually doesn't change his behavior much depending on who he's interacting with for the most part! He's gonna be cocky and kinda annoying regardless of who you are, but he will tone it down a notch IF he likes you (likewise he'll also dial up the obnoxious factor if you annoy him, but he might also just poof you to the fae realm if you piss him off enough). The one person who actually got to see his true personality (pretty quiet, respectful, and thoughtful, even if he won't admit it) was his wife, but uhh... shit happened :) There's definitely more that I could say here but it is unfortunately lots of spoilers, but we'll get there eventually hehe

[prides-of-the-continent]

Name: Fiachna Pride: Crushing Rock Pride Mother: Seble Father: Narda Siblings: N/A Partner(s): Children: Generation: 2

Backstory: TBD