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The early morning sun of Thanalan had been far more pleasant than the current noon variant. Thread Spool shaded his eyes as he stood in the saddle inspecting the horizon. “Not too much farther, Overlocker.” Once he was there he slid off his chocobo, petting her neck and letting her dip her head to drink from the small trough left for passing mounts. Thread pulled off one of the saddlebags, inspecting the content; a resupply was in order.
He trusted her to (mostly) stay out of trouble so he hopped the railing down into town, first one level then the next, thankful that dragoon training had some perks. Even if it came with more trouble than he had anticipated.
As he considered the options at the stall in front of him he saw movement from the corner of his eye and turned, an older Miqo’te waving him over. Thread exchanged Gil for goods before he jogged over, ears turned towards the other Miqo’te. He was just shorter than Thread, graying at his temples with scars that Thread was sure contained a myriad of stories.
And problems.
“Yes, sir?” Thread asked. “How can I help?” He hadn't expected the bark of laughter.
“Please, don’t sir me, I’m old enough as is; the name is Ehli'a. I could use some help if you’ve the time to spare,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. His ears pressed back for a moment, his gaze flickering away. “I’m an adventurer, as is my son, and we were to meet back here after we finished our respective jobs. He was due back a few hours ago,” he glanced at the position of the sun. “It’s a simple job and I’m sure I’m just fussing, but he’s young and not particularly experienced. Normally I might go check on him, but the job I’m currently doing means I’m stuck here for the time being.”
Thread smiled, one of his ears twitching, the crystal and moon pendant earring he wore singing softly making him think of him. It was sweet, this man's concern.
“I’m happy to go check. Where was he heading and what’s his name?” Thread said, making mental notes of what he would likely need to resupply on-again, smiling at the wave of relief that washed over Ehli’a’s face, one of the older miqo’te’s ears flicking constantly.
“Brilliant! Your time is much appreciated- trust me, I know how valuable it can be. His name is Khaliun Dazkar and he’s just shy of seven fulms. Dark hair that ends in pink not unlike yours, gold eyes and freckles, dark scales and horns.” Thread tilted his head as Ehli’a took a moment, the smile weighed into a frown for a moment as his expression pulled between concern and attempting to be at ease. “Oh ah, if you don’t know-”
Thread waved his hand. “Au Ra, sounds like?”
He noted the relieved sigh from Ehli’a “Yeah, that’s right. I appreciate it. He was escorting a caravan from here to Vesper Bay. They left just before dawn yesterday, which should be plenty of time to get there and back,” Ehli’a paused, “but if you could just… not mention I sent you, if possible? I’m trying not to be overbearing.”
Thread nodded his agreement as he hefted the Chocobo saddle back he was holding now filled with supplies for the road. “I’ll find him and check in on him; if anything’s amiss it’ll get taken care of,” he promised, starting up the ramp, slinging Overlocker's saddlebag back into place and securing it before hopping on and riding off.
Thread Spool was almost to Horizon by the time he spotted anything amiss. A covered wagon pulled over to the side of the road, and shouting. Combat, or the beginnings of it..
Thread urged Overlocker forward, sliding out of the saddle once they came even with the wagon, peeking around the edge. The merchants were crowded behind a tall young man, lance clutched in his grip, clearly trying to formulate a stratagem for a group far too large for him to take on his own. Thread slipped back behind cover, taking a deep breath as he drew his own lance, and preparing a strategy of his own.
He leaped to the top of the wagon and whistled loudly. The young man glanced up, along with the bandits, and that was Thread’s window. He launched off the top of the wagon, wood and cloth protesting under the force as he came to the apex of the jump, knowing full well the sun behind him would prevent the bandits from preparing appropriately as he adjusted his grip and leaned as gravity did its work. It was the closest thing Thread felt to happy in combat, those moments suspended above the violence before he had to return to reality. Of Bone and Flesh tearing a snapping under the combined weight of him and his lance.
It was only a moment before Khal lunged into the fray as well, his lance catching the sword of one of the bandits targeting Thread. Thread crouched , leaping a shorter distance than before, using the momentum of his fall to put more energy into the swings of his lance, twisting, lace brought overhead to strike behind, then once more in front of him before he hit the ground. Khal adjusted to keep himself between Thread and the hyur who seemed to be the ringleader of the bandits, wielding a greatsword that Khal danced around, luring the man into a heavy overhead swing that buried his sword into the compact earth of the Thanalan desert. Khal planted his foot on the blade leaping up and driving his lance into the man’s shoulder, causing him to shout in pain and drop his weapon stumbling back.
Between the two of them, they dispatched enough bandits to make the rest of the group decide the cost had far outweighed what was in the wagon. Khal thrust this lance into the ground, leaning on it and panting. , leaning over slightly, his other hand braced on his thigh. “Thal’s mercy. Thank you so much, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do there- if I had been a little faster beforehand-” he trailed off, shaking his head standing upright again. “Doesn’t matter right now I guess. We’re lucky you came by, thank you,”
Thread shook his head, his tail twitching. He turned his head, looking over as one of the merchants, a lalafell with a warm cheery face and voice, ran over. “Thank you both!” he said. “We would have been dead without you two, or at the very least stranded! Please take this,” he held out two small bundles that smelled warm and aromatic. “They’re hand pies I baked for the road this morning, I’m glad I thought to bring a few extras.” Thread gratefully accepted the food and handed Khal his. He had long ago learned it made people just as happy, gracefully accepting their gifts, as being saved in the first place.
“Thank you, I’ll be sure to enjoy it. Are you heading into Horizon?” Thread asked.
The lalafel nodded “You drove them off good, so as long as we leave now I think we’ll be safe!”
Thread smiled at Khal. “Well, I don’t have much to do right now, perhaps we can find some shade and you can tell me how it all played out?” The Au Ra nodded in response, looking strangely sheepish despite the fact he towered over Thread by a full fulm.
Thread whistled for Overlocked to come to join them, the chocobo trotting over and nervously preening Thread’s hair while he dug through her saddlebag until he could pull out a brightly colored blanket to lay on the ground, and a water skin. Once the blanket was down Thread settled down and motion for Kahl to join him.
Khal sat, unwrapping the hand pie.Thread could tell he was making an attempt not to inhale his meal- perhaps he hadn’t eaten in anticipation of heading back to Camp Drybone soon. Thread had to stifle a laugh as Overlocker studied the quiet au ra, then decided he must also be a friend as she started to preen his hair as well. Thread chuckled,leaning up to gently pull her bridle and free the younger man from the chocobo’s affections. “Sorry about that. This is Overlocker;I guess she decided you needed some help with your hair.“
Khal shook his head, reaching up to pat her beak “She’s a sweet bird… and probably not wrong. I’m a bit of a mess today, like you saw. I actually just finished the first part of another job when I saw that merchant family being hassled on my way back. If I had been a little faster I probably could have kept them from being stopped at all…”
Thread shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, people ended up safe and really that’s what matters. Besides, if you focus on what you could have done for to long, you’ll miss the next chance to do the next thing right.” Thread grinned. “Besides, all I saw was you standing your ground against some pretty bad odds, I was just helping rebalance things.”
Khal chewed thoughtfully, leaning back on one hand, looking up through the leaves of one of the few trees in the area. “... I hadn’t thought of it that way before. My dad’s a hero, like, a real absolute hero.The thing I want most is to help and make people smile with the same ease he does,” he confided, closing his eyes, his smile fading as he let his head drop forward. “The thing is, I’m not so good at it yet…”
Thread paused and reached over, gently putting his hand on Khal’s shoulder. “Well, I’d say he has a bit of a head start. I’m sure he struggled at first too.” He grinned, his ears flicking, causing the earrings he wore to sing, “Aside, it was pretty brave what I saw today, so I’d say you’re well on your way,”
Khal looked over at him, blinking rapidly, but he seemed to perk up. “Thanks, I,” he took a deep breath, “you’re right! All it means is I have to work harder, but I can totally do this.”
They sat and finished eating, parting ways not too long after. Khal had a few more things he needed to do, and Thread had his own commitments back closer to Camp Drybone.
So he set out, and just as the sun truly started to sink below the horizon, Thread rode back into Camp Drybone. When he slid out of the saddle, feeding Overlocker some gysahl greens, he heard encroaching footsteps. "Evening Ehli'a." He said, turning to great the definitely man. For his part Ehli'a ears pinned back bashfully for a second. "Ah, caught, not as quiet as I used to be,'' he said, hesitating.
"Khal is just fine, he was waylaid by some do-gooding," Thread assured him. "He's a nice young man... he looks up to you a lot; called you a ‘real hero’."
Ehli'a blinked and his cheeks flushed for a moment. "Did he say that… I know he's going to do whatever he sets his mind to. A father can't help but worry-'' he cut himself off. "you've done me enough favors, you don't need to listen to me talk more about my issues. That said, I've got some Gil for your trouble, and coffee to share if you're of a mind."
Thread smiled. "That sounds like a fair trade to me."