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It was a fateful day for Eorzea.
The sky suddenly felt like it's going down the moment the lesser moon Dalamud burned red and its outer shell shattered, scattering all its debris across the land. As the moon fell, an enraging dragon emerged from its insides. It set the lands ablaze, leaving naught but destruction in its wake.
No one was safe. Everyone ran for their lives, or hid to safety in their houses or caves. But not everyone is fortunate enough to escape from the calamity unscathed, or even alive.
On that fateful day, the lands of Eorzea changed forever…
Sometime after the Calamity subsided, members of the Grand Company reached out to locals to look for casualties and inform about the people who departed for Carteneau to fight against the Garlean invasion.
One such Grand Company was the Immortal Flames, who represented the military forces in Ul'dah and Thanalan specifically.
The Grand Company is led by the Ala Mhigan refugee-turned general, Raubahn Aldynn. For some special reasons, he decided to visit this small isolated Miqo'te tribe village to inform about one of the villagers who volunteered to take part in the battle at Carteneau.
They headed for Forgotten Springs at Southern Thanalan, a small oasis village where the Miqo’te of the U tribe live. It used to be thrived with traders from across the realm, but in recent years, following the pirates’ attack near the coastal areas of Thanalan, fewer people stopped by this small town that eventually, even the Sultanate of Ul’dah forgot that they exist. Hence the name.
The U tribe are known to be skilled hunters and survivors of the harsh desert climes of Southern Thanalan. They mostly hunt drakes and sandworms for game as the scalekin and vilekin frequently attack the village.
"General, are you sure this is where Master Dragomir Azora lives?" one of the Flame soldiers asked as he sifted through the documents of the figure he asked about.
"Aye," Raubahn responded, "He may be a Hrothgar from a far-off land, but I'm certain that he has a family here. It's all in his documents,"
The Midlander Flame soldier read through the document once again. The document read as follows:
"Dragomir Azora
Age: 40
Race: Hrothgar/Helions
Gender: Male
Origin: Bozja, currently living in Southern Thanalan at Forgotten Springs
Profession: Mercenary
Marital Status: Married
Spouse Name: U'rhayna Moto (39)
No. of children: 1
Names of children:
U'renh Tia @ Radomir Azora (14)
Current Status: Unknown"
"I'm not really sure how to say this to his family, General," the Midlander Flame soldier added.
"Be at ease, lad," Raubahn reassured him, "Let me do the bidding instead. After all, I am responsible for all the casualties incurred amongst our men,"
The Highlander and the Flame Soldier continued to march towards the village. As they entered the gates, they were approached by an older male Miqo'te, whom they presumed is the Nunh of the tribe.
"Excuse me, chief," Raubahn greeted the man politely, "Can I ask where Master Dragomir Azora lives?"
"Surrre," the elder Miqo'te responded, "His house is rrrright next to the aetheryte over there,"
The Miqo'te of the U tribe are known to have a thick 'R' accent when they speak, but that does not stop the general from being able to comprehend their speech, nonetheless. He proceeded to march his way to the house to inform Dragomir's family about his status.
Raubahn knocked the door gently and greeted, "Good evening, we are from the Immortal Flames. We'd like to speak with Mistress U'rhayna, if you may let us,"
The door opened, revealing a young Miqo'te boy. He was about four fulms tall, had messy brown hair with green eyes, and the instant he looked up, his eyes beamed, his ears twitched and the short tail waggled in excitement.
"Hello there, lad," Raubahn greeted the boy, "May I speak to your mother? It's something really important about your father,"
"Mom! It's General Aldynn!!" the boy called out to his mother.
Footsteps came from the back door of the living room, revealing a Miqo'te woman who goes by U'rhayna.
"Ah, good evening, Mistress U'rhayna," the Highlander greeted again, "We'd like to inform you something about your husband,"
U'rhayna was shaken at the mention of her husband. She knew that something wasn't right. Dragomir volunteered to take part in the battle at Carteneau, but for some reasons, he was nowhere to be seen.
"Tell me, General, where is he!?" she asked frantically, "Where is my husband!?"
Raubahn and the Midlander Flame soldier were at loss. They knew that they had no choice but to tell the truth, despite how painful it is.
"We're… sorry to inform you, but unfortunately, he was missing in action after the Calamity," Raubahn replied solemnly, with his head lowered down in remorse, “We tried searching for him after things subsided, but we couldn’t find his body, nor any of his belongings in the battlefield,”
“He disappeared… just like that,” the Flame soldier added, with a complete disbelief in his tone of speech.
U’rhayna was speechless. She fell onto her knees and covered her eyes as tears slowly welled up in her eyes. Her son could only respond with a jaw drop as he watched his mother sobbed.
“M-mom…?” the young Miqo’te called to her as his ears drooped.
U’rhayna rushed to her son and embraced him as she continued to sob. It was so hard to take the fact that she is losing a family member in a way that left them in the dark as his whereabouts after the Calamity remains a mystery.
“Renren, my boy…,” she whimpered, “Father is missing…, I’m so sorry,”
The Miqo’te boy, who goes by U’renh, was at a loss for words. His chest suddenly felt heavy as he witnessed everything unfold in front of his eyes. He didn’t want to cry because he wasn’t accustomed to feeling sad, but he felt sorry that he had to watch his mother crying because of something that is beyond his or her control.
U’renh gulped and clenched his fists as he gave a pat on his mother’s back. He wanted to say something reassuring to her instead because he did not want to feel sad.
“M-mom…,” U’renh replied back with a sad tone, “It’s… not your fault… and besides…, I want to believe that he’s still alive,”
Everyone was surprised at hearing the young Miqo’te’s words. He was only fourteen summers old, and yet, he managed to put up a smile on his face while hiding his sadness beneath his words. Normally youths of his age would simply break down alongside with their parents, but for some reasons, U’renh was built differently.
Raubahn lowered down his back to reach for U’renh, and gave a pat on his head. He was amazed at the boy’s optimism, and figured that a commendation would motivate him even more.
“You’re a strong boy, lad,” he commented, “I don’t know what you’ve been going through to be this strong, but, you’ve got the potential to become stronger,”
U’renh’s ears raised. His eyes beamed as he heard the Highlander commended his optimism. Growing up, he used to watch Raubahn fighting his way through the Bloodsands of Ul’dah as a gladiator before he eventually rose up the ranks to become the General of the Immortal Flames. Knowing that he was given a commendation from the very same man he looked up to as a child made him smile in delight.
“Please protect your mother, lad,” Raubahn continued, “She’s the only person you have left… at least, for now,”
The young Miqo’te was searching for words to respond to the Highlander’s words of encouragement. He knew that one day, he would grow up, but never in his life has he ever decided what to do with it. Until this very moment.
“I-I will, General,” U’renh replied, in a tone that was still feel like he’s searching for more words, but nevertheless, is determined, “I will,”
“Now then, we shall be on our way,” Raubahn said as he stood up straight before turning away from the Miqo’te family, with the Flame soldier next to him following suit.
U’renh and his mother watched the two men walking away from their house. It was reassuring to have the general of the Flames stopping by the residence, but the news they bore left the house with a somber air.
Light from the oil lamp died down, leaving the room inside the house in complete darkness, with the exception that the front porch of the house bathed in the moonlight from the outside.
U’renh shifted his eyes onto his mother. He felt that he was not finished with Raubahn just yet as suddenly an idea came up to his mind. After everything the Highlander told him bells ago, he cannot let this idea pass by just like that.
“Mom,” the young Miqo’te began, “I need to speak with General Aldynn once again. Will you let me? Just this once,”
U’rhayna’s tears dried up after a moment of sobbing. She knew that something is up with her son, and once he made up his mind, he will not turn back.
She gave him a single nod, signifying her agreement in silence.
U’renh let go of his mother and dashed for the exit. He hurriedly ran after Raubahn and the Flame soldier before they left the village.
—--
The Highlander and the Midlander Flame soldier had finished making their inquiries around the village. Everything was said and done, and they were making their way towards the exit gate of the village. Until suddenly, footfalls can be heard from a distance.
“Wait!” a youthful voice boomed as they made their ways to the exit.
Raubahn and the Flame soldier turned around to find the source of the voice. A young Miqo’te sprinted towards them. The same young Miqo’te that they found out to be the son of the missing mercenary who volunteered for Carteneau.
U’renh arrived right in time. He stopped running as soon as he arrived by the gate and gasped for breath, his head lowered down and hands on his knees.
“What is it again, lad?” Raubahn asked, “Did you forget something?”
“We’re a bit busy today, so please make it quick,” the Midlander Flame soldier added, nervously as to not make the boy disappointed given their situation.
“General, I…,” U’renh began as he trailed off his words, searching for an appropriate answer.
He has been waiting for this moment. After all, he is the only person left that his mother can count on. If he believed that his father could still be alive somewhere, then he is determined to find a way to find him. However, U’renh is aware that he is still too young to go on an adventure. The realm is too big for a young Miqo’te of his age to explore. Hence, he decided that he wishes to train to become stronger instead.
U’renh fell onto his knees, then his hands onto the ground and head lowered down. He begged the general of the Immortal Flames to let him train under the man himself.
“W– will you please let me train under you!?” U’renh boldly asked, leaving everyone in a complete surprise.
"I-...," Raubahn tried to respond but he trailed off.
He was surprised by the boy's determination. Memories began to resurface, back to the time when he was still a gladiator. A young Lalafell approached to him, begging him to train him in order to escape from the harsh life of a slave.
The Highlander returned to his consciousness, and decided to make his decision on the spot. He lowered his body to the boy's height once again, and gave him a pat on his shoulder.
"I'd love to, lad," he replied, "But unfortunately, my hands are currently full; I already took in a child and raised him like my own son. Adding to my responsibilities are my position as the general of this bloody Grand Company, as well as being a member of the Syndicate,"
U'renh's ears drooped. He knew that the man he looked up to so much could not even spare a time to help him train because of his responsibilities, but deep down, he wishes that he could.
"But if you insist, I can only tell you this," Raubahn added, "Wait until you're old enough to go on an adventure. For now, grow stronger and train under your chief. He knows his ways of adventuring, and he could probably give you some insight, lad,"
U'renh nodded in agreement. He didn't have much to say aside from his eyes slowly beaming with hope once again.
"I know you can do it, lad," the Highlander concluded, "Your eyes have spoken for itself,"
Raubahn bid his farewell to the young Miqo'te and left for the gate, slowly leaving the village in its usual quiet and peaceful air. U'renh stood by as he watched them slowly disappearing into the desert as they made their way to Ul'dah.
U’renh had his face downcast and clenched his fists. After getting those words of encouragement from the man himself, he knew that one day, he must depart from the village to embark on his grand mission. A mission to save his father, as well as to explore what Hydaelyn has to offer as far as the eyes could see.
"Please, wait for me, dad," U'renh said to himself as he looked up again to the horizon, "I'll be there for you, just you wait!"
“Hear…,”
“Feel…,”
“Think…,”
An ethereal-sounding voice echoed inside U’renh’s head. The young Miqo’te, now recently seeing his nineteenth nameday, has grown about five fulms and a half tall. He slowly opens his eyes and eventually finds himself adrift in a sea of what seems to be an aetherial void.
An enormous, drifting crystal emerges in front of him within a distance of a few malms away from his position. It gleams brightly in the sea of aetherial void as smaller shards of crystals float beside it. U’renh gazed at the crystal in awe.
Suddenly, a black portal emerges out of nowhere. From it, out comes a shadowy figure with a red mask and a black robe. U’renh is surprised as to what in the seven hells is going on as everything happened spontaneously; his garments also transform into knightly gear, complete with a glowing sword and shield.
At the same time, numerous white portals appear besides him, and out come numerous adventurers geared in their respective attire befitting of their jobs: an Elezen man in a scholarly outfit, a Miqo’te woman dressed in a blue tabard and armed with a lance, a Hyuran Midlander man clad in white tabard and is carrying a longbow, and a Lalafellin man wearing a large, pointy hat and a dark robe while carrying an eerie-looking staff.
As U’renh watches them lining up side-by-side next to him on both sides, they all brace themselves for a counterattack as the shadowy figure casts a dark spell. The Elezen scholar opens up his tome and calls out a familiar, the Miqo’te dragoon leaps off from her initial position and begins to spin her lance as to prepare for a plunge on her enemy, the Midlander bard strums his harp-like bow before raising it to an arm’s length to prepare for a shot, while the Lalafellin black mage silently recites an incantation as his staff begins to glow ominously.
Eventually, U’renh follows suit and initiates his battle stance by lining up his sword and shield vertically, then recites an incantation that elicits a shining glow on his sword.
Once the shadowy figure finishes casting, U’renh and the adventurers charge forward and unleash their spells and attacks simultaneously until it clashes with the dark spell, causing the space to be engulfed in a bright white light, and everything suddenly disappears into a blank white space…
—-
“Hey, lad,” an old, masculine voice called out, “Wake up. We’re almost arrived at our destination,”
For a moment, everything is completely engulfed in black until slowly, U’renh opens his eyes and finds himself asleep at the back of a chocobo carriage. An old Hyuran Midlander is sitting beside him, and two young Elezen youths, a boy and a girl to be exact, are sleeping while sitting across where U’renh and the old man are.
The Miqo’te youth shakes his head as he finally finds himself back into reality. He observes that the chocobo carriage is going through the rugged, arid landscapes of a place he is quite familiar with.
“Excuse me, sir, but remind me that this is still in Thanalan, amirite?” U’renh asks as he slowly tries to find his bearings again after what seems to be an eternity trapped beneath a long slumber.
“Why yes, we still are, lad,” the old Midlander replies with a joy in his face, “Central Thanalan, to be exact,”
“Phew,” U’renh sighs in a relief, “Thank the Twelve I’m still right on my path,”
“Well, you seems to know where you are heading to,” the Midlander added, “Heading to Ul’dah?”
Ul’dah. That name seems familiar to him. Five years have passed since the Calamity, and he hasn’t set foot to the city-state following the disappearance of his father in Carteneau on that fateful day. His mother was still grieving over his disappearance that she stopped selling her wares down in the markets of Ul’dah, as well as forbidding U’renh from travelling outside the Forgotten Springs.
The years following the Calamity were spent on training how to fight and survive in the wilds under the supervision of the Nunh of the U tribe, who also played a role as U’renh’s second father — U’odh Nunh, former member of the esteemed Company of Heroes.
It wasn’t until a few weeks before that he received a blessing from Hydaelyn through a dream. Hydaelyn Herself spoke to him to bear him good news — his father, after all this time, was still alive, although She could not pinpoint the exact location of his current whereabouts. This drives his motivation to bring back his father even more.
“Y-yeah, I am,” U’renh affirms himself, “It’s been five years since I last set foot there,”
“Hohoho, five years!?” the old man chuckles, “‘Tis also marks the fifth anniversary since the fateful day, isn’t it?”
“Uhh… yeah,” the Miqo’te youth replies reluctantly, as any mention of the Calamity gives him the shivers as it reminds him of the fateful day he met Raubahn, as well as the day he was informed that his father went missing.
Their conversation is so lively that bells have passed, they suddenly find themselves arriving within the outskirts of Ul’dah. The city-state hasn’t changed much ever since, save for the fact that more refugees are camping outside the gates following the Calamity, presumably coming from those who lost their homes and families from the horrors of the fateful day.
“Aaaand here we are,” the Midlander announces, “Ul’dah, at last.
U’renh and the two Elezen youths, presumably twins, get down from the carriage; the latter walking away towards the city-state first. The Miqo’te youth picks up his backpack and carries it on his back, then turns around to ask the old man again.
“Is it just me or more and more refugees have been coming here as of late?” he asks.
“Aye,” the old man replies, “Mostly made up of the remaining folks from Ala Mhigo, as well as those who recently lost their families and livelihood to the Calamity. You have a good eye, lad,”
“Thanks, sir,” U’renh thanks him.
“Well, I shall be on my way now,” the old man, “Safe travels, and may you find what you seek, lad,”
The old man bids U’renh farewell, and signals the carriage driver to take the ride elsewhere. The chocobos chirp with a ‘kweh’ sound before it slowly turns the carriage away from Ul’dah, and sprint down the road. U’renh watches the carriage slowly shrink in size as it moves into the distance, then turns his sights towards the city-state.
“Finally,” U’renh proclaims with determination, “The moment I’ve been waiting for. Ul’dah, here I come!”
U’renh throws a fist towards the city-state as he announces the beginning of his adventure. Five years he waited, and at long last, he is now embarking on a long journey that will forever change his life…