ffxiv-centric blog. I mostly post about my oc's: poses, wrtings, musings, etc. i love rambling about them so there will be a lot of that! also i used to rp for a few years so if you ever have any idea about our characters interacting or any question i'd love to answer ! (i think everyone loves rambling about their characters and i'm no different.)
We lean like gardens toward light
But we wait like evening for night.
botanist brothers posting for @impossible-rat-babies bday !! ily owen <3
extras I did love as well but mostly bc you can see better (barely) the chocobo duo on the back with one of them with their head inside the empty basket hehe
Welcome to the next installment of Advent of the Red Comet, my FFXIV fanfic about Char Aznable of Gundam fame being transported to the world of Etheirys. There he meets Nero Scaeva as well as my WoL, Severia Zetsuen.
This installment follows the prologue posted recently.
If you enjoy my writing, please let me know what you think!
Char awoke in a surge of panic. With instincts that had been honed by years of combat readiness, he pushed himself upright and looked around. Everything was overwhelmingly white. Except for the thin blue mattress beneath him. It was certainly no Zeon ship that had picked him up. He didn't think it resembled any kind of ship design he had seen before. Could he have been taken to a settlement?
His hand went to his temple as he tried to remember exactly what had happened to him. It was important that he remember. But the sheer brightness of this space after that suffocating darkness…. That was it. He had been in darkness and a voice had spoken to him. Was that all a dream?
"Ah, you're awake," said a masculine voice from behind him.
Char turned, lowering his legs over the side of the cot, unconsciously tensing himself to react to a threat. A man approached him from the near end of whatever room this was. Blonde hair, blue eyes behind lightly shaded glasses, a red jacket. Was this some kind of hallucination? But the man was tall, much taller than anyone of Char's acquaintance and his facial structure was completely different from Char's own. Still, the similarities were baffling. Not that Char was currently wearing his signature red or the shades he had habitually worn until recently.
At that reminder he looked down at himself. His normal suit was gone, replaced by a simple white shirt and grey leggings. Comfortable attire such as one might wear in a hospital. Of course. He must have been injured. Char touched his forehead again, vaguely remembering blood flowing down his face. But he couldn't see or feel any injuries on himself now.
The strange man nodded at him. "Our chirurgeons have long since fixed you up. You've been out cold for a few days now."
Anything could happen in a few days. Char needed more information quickly. "Where am I?"
The other man frowned, head tilting to the side. He seemed confused. "One moment," he said and turned around to rifle through a few drawers and cabinets. "Aha." Char watched him affix something too small to identify into his ear canal and return to sit down in the chair next to Char's cot. "Could you repeat that?"
"Where am I?"
The other man laughed out loud and made a gesture of triumph. "Yes, excellent! I can understand you now. It seems you must not be from around these parts. Not by a long shot."
Char felt a chill of apprehension. This man had not understood such a simple question? But he could understand the man perfectly. Confusing, and he couldn't imagine a reason for it.
"To answer your question," the man continued, "this is Sinus Ardorum. In other words, the Moon. You're currently in the base hub of the Cosmic Exploration Initiative. And I would very much like to know how you got here and what that very fascinatingly broken machine I found next to you is."
There were some phrases there that Char could not parse the meaning of. But he knew the Moon. "I assume I've been brought to a hospital. Which city is this?"
The man frowned again. "City? No cities here I'm afraid, unless you mean Bestways Burrows, which I suppose might count if we're being generous. But no, that's not where we are. No surprise you haven't heard of the Initiative. It's not exactly common knowledge. But neither are methods of getting to the Moon. In fact, there's only one way and I'm quite certain you did not employ it or we would have heard. How did you get here?"
Char felt more and more confused. He decided to ignore for the moment the man's incoherent rambling. Instead he smiled. "I was hoping you could tell me that."
The man raised his eyebrows. "Well, what I can tell you is that I found you in one of the outlying regions of Sinus Ardorum lying unconscious on the ground covered in blood next to a large… machine of unknown origin. My observations lead me to believe it's a vehicle of some kind. That might explain your mode of transportation at least. But where you came from and why your vehicle seemingly crashed on this moon is entirely a mystery to us at the moment. Perhaps we might figure it out if we put together the facts we each possess." The man returned Char's friendly smile, but his eyes burned with curiosity from behind their shades.
It was clear Char would need to proceed carefully. This man was clearly no fool, whether or not he talked like one. Without knowing whose hands he had fallen into, he had to try to keep his identity to himself. What could he safely say? Could he get this man to reveal more?
"I don't think I've heard of this Sinus…"
"Of course not. I would be surprised if you had," the man chuckled. "Which makes it all the more surprising that you are here."
A secret installation? A new faction? He needed this man to speak more clearly. "I assure you it was not my intention to end up here. As you saw, I crashed. It was an accident." Or was it? Had that voice led him here? "Are you one of the doctors?"
The man laughed out loud. "Oh no. No no no. I'm an engineer. It's just that I'm the one who found you and I've taken an interest. Frankly, I think your arrival is the most interesting thing that's happened here. No one else has seemed yet to grasp the implications."
Char wanted to grab this man and shake him. "I'm afraid I don't understand. Perhaps you might speak a little more directly."
The other man considered this. "Clearly I'm not going to get any more out of you without offering something myself. Very well. I respect that. I'll tell you what I'm thinking." He flipped his chair around to sit in it backwards, propping his crossed arms on the backrest. "I find it very curious that you are not at all surprised that we are on the Moon. In fact, you asked about "cities" which is a completely inexplicable thing to expect here. You didn't come out of the portal. That intriguing machine of yours indicates that, as unlikely as it may be, you flew here. Through space." He paused, watching Char's reaction.
"Not a flicker of surprise. So it's true then. That vehicle is for traveling through space."
"Not primarily for travel, but yes, it functions in space," Char answered. His mind was working rapidly. He was in a place that was not accustomed to space travel, that didn't have settlements on the Moon, and where he was not immediately recognized. It was unbelievable.
"And where you come from, you have built cities on the Moon?"
"Yes, we have may settlements in space."
"Incredible. Here the only people who live on the Moon are rabbits."
Finally, Char balked. "Rabbits?"
"So I've managed to surprise you?" The man grinned. "Yes. Little bunnies who walk and talk. To be fair, we were all rather surprised to find them up here. But they're intelligent little buggers. Their technology is leaps and bounds beyond our own."
"Technologically capable… bunnies?" Char had a hard time believing his leg wasn't being pulled.
"Not to be confused with the Viera who have rabbit ears and tails** but are otherwise perfectly normal."
"You're serious? Are they aliens?"
"The Lopporits, that's the small rabbits, are native to the Moon so you could certainly call them aliens. However, the rest are native to our planet. So you don't have such people? With cat features or rabbit features or even sort of dragonish, lizardish features?"
Char had to make an effort to keep hi mouth from hanging open. What kind of place had he ended up in? "We're all entirely human. To be honest I can't quite imagine what you describe."
The other man frowned. "How odd. Even the other shards can have several races. Your home seems very technologically advanced but lacking in evolutionary paths. But it seems certain at this point, that you are no son of Etheirys. You come from some other place."
Char listened and took in the information, but didn't confirm or deny the man's suspicion. He had much to consider from this strange conversation. Not least of all, why was he in this new place and not returned to his own? His hand went unconsciously to his chest, but the necklace he often touched for comfort was missing. He looked around in his bedding, on the shelf next to the cot, on the counter space across the small room, but he couldn't see it anywhere.
"Are you looking for this?" The man took a silver locket from his pocket and held it out on its chain.*
Char grabbed it. With trembling fingers he opened the delicate hinge. Blonde hair, blue eyes and a sweet smile he would never forget greeted him. It had survived whatever had happened to him intact. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Family?" the man asked.
Char didn't like giving this man any more information than he had to, not until he knew more, but if he had to then he supposed this was a safer subject than most.
"My sister." After all, Artesia was the one thing in his life he wasn't conflicted about. No matter how their lives had driven them apart, she would always be his precious little sister. He wondered if he would ever see her again. "The way you said 'some other place'. It doesn't sound like you mean just another planet."
Char found himself receiving a look of intense scrutiny. This man was also weighing how much to reveal and how much to withhold.
"We have reason to believe that there is no other intelligent life in the vicinity of our star," the man said darkly. "So either you traveled across space from very, very far away, which seems highly unlikely judging by the vehicle you arrived in… Or you are from another world entirely."
Another world? What did that even mean?
"No matter," the other man said loudly. "This kind of thing happens, you know. Or so Severia tells me." He stood up and pushed his chair away then held out his hand. "A bit rude to do this so late in our acquaintance, but then the situation is not at all regular. My name is Nero Scaeva."
Char stared at the offered hand. If this wasn't Earth or anywhere near Earth, and the indications were that it wasn't, then perhaps it was safe to give his name. It struck him that he needn't be constricted by any name anymore. If this was a new place, a new start, and no one here knew who he was, then he could be anybody. A dozen possibilities crossed his mind and he considered each one. But the truth was, in the end, he was used to being Char.
Laughing at himself internally, he stood up and offered his own hand in return. "It's a privilege to meet you, Nero. My name is Char Aznable."
Notes:
the locket appears in Char's Counterattack: Beltorchika's Children
I've decided in my FFXIV universe that Viera do have tails, since they should.
Thank you so much for reading! Feedback is always appreciated.
-- long rest.
[For @impossible-rat-babies' rat birthday prompt! I hope your day was peaceful and satisfying !! And that Eyrie's nameday left them content!]
happiest of birthdays to @impossible-rat-babies!! 💚🤎 (and very belated happy nameday to eyrie!!) i hope it is full of joy and love and a bit of adventure!
Happy birthday to @impossible-rat-babies! And also a happy belated birthday to their OC, Eyrie! Here's to another year filled with wonderous adventures with you and Eyrie. I hope you have a great day today!
