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When Kamui first met K’lyhia outside the Zephyr Gate, his instinctive reaction was to rush to her side and ensure she hadn’t damaged herself in the fall, yet before he could even get close, she had bounced up onto her feet and gotten into his own personal space to inspect him closely.
“May… May I help you?” Kamui asked as he watched the Miqo’te lass intently, prepared for a sudden attack at any moment.
After a few more rounds around him, the Miqo’te took a step back in front of him and gave him a brief bow, “Apologies for the sudden inspection, however after witnessing your techniques in combat, it was only appropriate that I inspect your gear to assess how much it may have assisted you. After a short analysis, I have come to the conclusion that you were neither helped nor hindered by your current gear, and as such, your techniques were entirely based on knowledge and skill for the arcanist craft.”
Ah, a fellow member of the arcanist guild, perfect! Kamui gave a low and slow bow in return, “It pleases me that you would deem me worth such high praise, and as such, I thank you for it, however I am but a beginner to the craft, I have a long way to go before I can call myself a truly skilled arcanist.” Kamui raised himself back to full height as he spoke, “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Kamui Gaeric, and while I’ve lived in Limsa for quite some time now, it’s only recently that I’ve taken to the adventuring life.”
The Miqo’te nodded firmly as Kamui spoke, “I see that not only do you have a talent for the class, but the modesty required to go far without losing to one's own ego. I am Foreseer K’lyhia, and Thubyrgeim has requested that I supervise your training.” K’lyhia held out a hand towards Kamui, “Tis a pleasure to meet you Kamui, and I believe it will be even more pleasurable working with you in the future.”
Kamui reached out and shook K’lyhias hand, “If Thubyrgeim has entrusted me into your care, then I trust in your capabilities. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must report to our acting guild master on my experiences here.”
K’lyhia nodded enthusiastically, “Good, good, I’ll ensure that this cargo is seen to appropriately, I look forward to our next meeting.” And with that they parted ways.
___
Their next meeting was, in fact, not at the arcanists guild, nor was it out in the field for training. No, Kamui was in the middle of a library shift when he and K’lyhia next met. K’lyhia had all but stumbled her way into the library with an intimidatingly large stack of books in her arms.
Kamui was quick to go to her side and remove the top half of the load, “Dare I ask how you acquired such a quantity of the libraries books?” He asked quietly as the made their way to the front desk where one of Kamui’s more experienced coworkers simply rolled their eyes and stood from their post, signalling for Kamui to take over in their stead.
K’lyhia nodded in thanks as her load was lightened, “I’m quite the avid reader - both of historical books and fictitious literature - yet it seems the head librarian here does not entirely appreciate a book being borrowed only to be immediately returned the next day. They appear to dislike it even more that I would take home the typical limit of five and return them all at once… typically the following day. As such they were gracious enough to give me a special pass that allowed me to take out as many books as I can carry home! Thus… this massive stack of books you are now assisting me with is one of but many stacks I have carried to and from this library.” She finished as she carefully placed the stack on the desk before the now seated Kamui, “I was not aware you worked here.”
Kamui nodded as he began going through the paperwork required to return the books, “I see, you must be on the head librarians good side then, ordinarily they would never do such a thing and would force you to handle the five book limit like everyone else.” He found K’lyhia’s name and long list of borrowed books and began filing through them all, ticking off each one as he went through the stack. “I used to work at the library in Ul’dah, however after my… incident, they deemed it suitable to transfer me here as I would be coming to Limsa frequently as I trained as an arcanist.”
K’lyhia tilted her head at the mention of an ‘incident’ but deemed it none of her business to dig deeper, and so she simply nodded before turning tail and began scouring the library for new books to replace those she had returned.
By the time Kamui had finished checking off all the books K’lyhia had returned, she was back with another equally big stack. “This should be sufficient. I’ve decided to try out some other genres for now until my next order arrives.”
“Ah, so you were the one that ordered the latest volumes of-”
“SHHHHHHH!” K’lyhia rushed to cover Kamui’s mouth with her hand, “We do not speak of what I ordered!” Her face quickly beginning to flush.
Kamui blinked slowly, but nodded nonetheless. K’lyhia did not seem the type to become flustered so easily, yet at the mention of the books she ordered, she was flush as a tomato. It’s not like the books she had ordered were even scandalous. Although they were all written by the same pen name, so perhaps it was less the books she was interested in, but rather the author? Kamui wiped the thought from his mind - she had not asked about his ‘incident’ so it was only fair that he not bring up anything that may embarrass her in return.
They occupied the rest of the time K’lyhia spent at the library with talk of combat tactics and techniques that Kamui may wish to try after his shift, but before long, all the books had been cataloged and the Foreseer was on her merry way - after denying any assistance from Kamui in carrying the books home of course.
As Kamui waved K’lyhia out of the library, his coworker returned to the front desk, “You know the crazy Miqo lady?”
Kamui shot them a glare, “She is far from crazy, and her name is K’lyhia. You will treat her with respect or else .” While Kamui and K’lyhia may have only met once prior, however Thubyrgeim had informed Kamui of her exploits and incredible skill - having come so far as an arcanist with nought but her beginner’s grimoire, thus earning Kamui’s respect without any need for firsthand experience.
___
As time went on, Kamui honed his skills as an arcanist under K’lyhias astute tutoledge, and the pair became close friends besides. It was now a regular occurrence for the two of them to go out for training and then return to K’lyhias residence to read in a comfortable silence.
It was because of this that Kamui carried K’lyhia back home after the incident on the Morningstar. How Kamui heard about K’lyhias past with Doesmaga, and how she had gone through such awful things just to survive.
Kamui swore to K’lyhia that they would get revenge on Doesmaga together, but first she had to recuperate and have her wits about her. And so she did, with Kamui’s assistance.
They went over countless strategies, countless practice attempts, and countless hours of Kamui comforting K’lyhia and assuring her that she was strong enough to face against Doesmaga. He knew it was hard for her to come to terms with what she had to do, but they both knew that this was the only way for her to move on.
Kamui, however, did not expect K’lyhias final plan to be so… unnecessarily complex. Although, looking back at their time together, Kamui really should have anticipated such a series of events.
By the time all was said and done, however, it all became clear to Kamui as to why it had to be such an intricate plan, however needless some tasks may have seemed to him at the time. It wasn’t for the sake of bringing down Doesmaga - although that was the key event of the plan - no, it was so K’lyhia could simply do what feels right. Do what Kamui had told her at their first meeting, and do what the guildmaster would do in her place.
It was only natural for K’lyhia then, to state her next intentions to Kamui as they watched the Yellowjackets take away Doesmaga and his remaining crew. She intended to chase down the guildmaster - K’rhid Tia - and assist in his myriad of studies as the travelled the realm together.
Agreeing that it was the best plan of action for her, Kamui had only one question remaining, “What of your home in Limsa Lominsa? I’m full aware that our guildmaster is not one to stay put in one place for ‘er long, so what do you intend to do with the space?”
K’lyhia spun on her heels to face Kamui at that moment, a wide grin on her face, “Worry not, dear friend, I have already made the appropriate adjustments so that my former abode will better suit your needs.”
Kamui nodded along, only to pause, wide-eyed and blinking, “Wait just a moment, you intend to-”
“Not intend to, I am insisting that you take over my home. You already know it’s location, it’s layout, and I’ve made the adjustments so that your height should no longer be of concern in the kitchen.” K’lyhia paused as she pulled out the key from her pocket, and shoved it into Kamui’s stomach, “Besides, it’s much cheaper than paying the extortionate price of rent at the inns you currently frequent.”
Kamui gingerly took the key from K’lhia’s fist, and blinked back up at her with wet eyes, “Thank you, K’lyhia, I will make sure to keep it in perfect condition for when you and the guildmaster come and visit.”
K’lyhia snorted lightly, “I’d rather the place be strewn about with books on arcanima wide open and littered with notes, thank you very much.”
The pair laughed, had one final warm - albeit as always, awkward - hug, before parting ways. K’lyhia off to Memeroon’s Trading Post, so as to ascertain the whereabouts of the guildmaster, while Kamui returned to the aranist’s guild itself, to inform Thubyrgeim of the result of their- no, of K’lyhias plan, and her hopes for the future.
They may no longer be student and mentor, but Kamui was certain that he would meet with K’lyhia again in the future, and it was his duty to honor her service to the guild - and as his friend - to continue to hone his skills in the craft.