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Mayumi found herself on her back, staring dazed through dense fog at the rock face looming over her. It wasn’t the tallest drop in these parts and, therefore, not the most terrible to be found at the bottom of. She should have been thankful for that.
Should have, she thought, but the ache in the back of her head and the fierce throbbing in her limbs argued otherwise. Yet despite her physical discomforts, she felt mostly annoyance over it having happened in the first place.
In gradual moments, her senses filed back in just in time to hear the dying moan of the offender responsible for knocking her off balance. Someone must have struck it down—but who? No one else was around as far as she could tell. Then again, she hadn’t noticed an unmissable giant tortoise was creeping up from the fog behind her. Not until the creature had already hit its mark and sent her on her way. Now here she was, exemplifying how distracted she had been lately, and it could have cost her more than a few dozen sore spots… For a certainty, it was costing her time.
Whilst she wondered and contemplated lying still for a spell, a figure came into view from above. Mayumi tried to recognize them through the fog, blinking blearily and peeling herself off the mess of dirt and scant grass. Was it an adventurer? A Brass Blade? Either one would be gone soon enough—
“Are you alright?!”
Mayumi made a rather unladylike sound and her mouth hung open in surprise.
Oh no.
The voice was one she recognized, and she quickly made sense of the figure staring down at her.
“Thancred...?!” she blurted.
Her heart was beginning to pound as she scrambled to gather herself. Whatever it took to make her situation look less pathetic.
His head dipped out of view. In short, she lost sight of him, but fast footsteps were heard heading down to where she had tumbled—faster than she was prepared for.
What! Why now? No one was supposed to find me—! This isn’t how this was supposed to go!
Her anxious eyes followed the sound of his steps until she saw a man with white hair and a dark tunic was approaching. It was indeed Thancred; here out in the middle of Eastern Thanalan of all places. Though she considered it, running away would look terribly suspect. It was far too late to do so anyway—he had already spotted her.
Her hand found the back of her sore head and rubbed absently. Words sputtered out as she was still gaping at him from her seat in the dirt.
“Wh-what are you doing here?”
Thancred made a face. It might not have been what he expected to hear for his arrival, but it was what she was thinking. If anything, he should have been at the Rising Stones, or Limsa, or anywhere else but here—the last place she expected there to be any Scion activity; a place she thought she could hide and think things over with nothing but a goobue corpse for company. This sudden appearance startled her, to say the least.
“I could ask the same of you,” Thancred returned, humoring her. “As for myself, I was out for a stroll when I chanced to see you take a tumble off the edge.”
He answered with casual ease and a shrug as if he were stating the obvious. His usual charisma bled into his words, barring the way of the unnecessary seriousness one would expect in situations like these. He gave her a once-over.
“You appear to be in one piece, all things considered. Permit me to ask again if you are quite alright?”
Mayumi felt a regretful twinge of embarrassment was creeping in and growing fast. It only served to further rattle her nerves. To avoid making that obvious, she looked past him and stopped nursing her head, also in an effort to appear in tip-top shape and in need of no assistance. Forcing past her reservations, she tried to assure him with a smile.
“I am! Clumsy me only hit her head. Don’t worry—it happens all the time! Ah ha ha…”
“‘All the time’?” Thancred repeated, raising an eyebrow at her. “Shall we endeavor to make it less of the time, then? Beginning perhaps with you watching your step? To say nothing of clumsiness…”
Before Thancred could offer his hand, Mayumi pushed herself to her feet in haste then frantically dusted herself off, creating a sizable cloud of sand worthy to be its own dust storm. She tried her best not to stagger with the aches she felt all over, but they were nothing so serious as to stop her. As soon as she started walking again the pain would fade. No problem. No help needed. No problem at all!
But Thancred had obvious doubts. He still intended to aid her.
“It’s nothing serious!” Mayumi insisted, waving her arms in deflection, causing Thancred to veer back to avoid them. “I’m alright, honest!”
Thancred looked at her sideways and withdrew his assistance, again raising a confused brow at her reaction. He gave a short awkward laugh.
“Ahem—Aren’t you acting peculiar…” he stated. “Are you feeling well, Mayumi?”
“Oh, better than peculiar!”
Mayumi wanted to kick herself. Might as well put her foot in her mouth while she was at it. The effect was the same.
Thancred opened his mouth to speak. Panicked, Mayumi beat him to it.
“A-Anyroad! I’m in one piece, as you said! So if there was somewhere you needed to be…”
She took one step away. One. But that was all it took.
The pathetic squeak she made sounded so similar to a baby lamb getting kicked that embarrassment finally flooded her face with blush. The red on her cheeks didn't do her any favors. She tried to cover with her hands as Thancred was already moving to her aid.
“Now, now. Don’t be so hasty. Is it your leg?”
He was so earnest-sounding, as all the Scions had a knack for being—save for Papalymo or Y’shtola’s biting sarcasm. They wouldn’t stand for her behavior if they were here in Thancred’s stead. She cringed to imagine it.
Mayumi drew her hands away from her face and raised her injured foot off the ground, putting all her weight on her sore but intact other leg. She hid it behind herself, met Thancred eyes, and panicked yet again.
“It’s probably nothing!” she blurted, now ringing her hands behind her back. “I can get to Camp Drybone and—”
“And if you’re attacked on the way? What with all this fog it would be dangerous to go it alone.”
Again, it was said as if it were obvious—which it was—and he didn’t mean it to be argumentative either. In contrast to Mayumi, he was rather calm about it.
“It’s not that far from here,” she persisted. “I can make it.”
Thancred made no comment on that, or perhaps he had ignored it having had his fill of her pathetic attempts to dissuade him. He crouched down on his knee in front of her, all but scrutinizing her ailed leg before he looked back up at her.
“I’m no chirurgeon, but I’ve learned a thing or two in my field. May I?”
Mayumi pressed her lips tightly together in her reluctance. Despite her lack of desire to accept aid from a Scion at present, she relinquished her leg to Thancred, feeling much like an indignant child who had scrapped her knee while playing outside.
She looked elsewhere into the fog, keeping her counsel as Thancred gently prodded at her boot and checked for—
“Ah—!”
A pain shot up from her ankle and straight through her bones. It took every bit of her willpower not to yank away. She pursed her lips at him, pouting. Thancred hummed.
“As I feared. You may have a slight sprain—At least I hope it is only that...” He stood after gently setting her leg down. “If you can withhold your deflections for a turn, I should like to escort you to Camp Drybone. I wouldn't forgive myself if you were harmed further by making the trip alone.”
Mayumi folded her arms tight, fighting further feelings of embarrassment and picking her brain for excuses.
“And Arielle would have my head if I allowed you to convince me otherwise,” Thancred added, reading her obvious intentions. “You wouldn’t wish to invite her scorn upon me, would you?”
“Y-you must be busy after Leviathan and your business regarding all after. It will be a slow trip if you stick with me…”
“Not if you allow me to bear you there.”
Mayumi blinked at him. Thancred shrugged.
“You shouldn’t exert yourself lest you aggravate your injuries. I’m in no hurry, besides.” He tapped an affirming hand against his chest, flashing one of his more dashing looks. “Do not trouble yourself. I’ll have you safe within the care of a healer, then I’ll be out of your hair. I give my word.”
Mayumi’s brow furrowed.
She came all this way to avoid situations like this. With everything that had happened and how quickly it all came to pass, Mayumi considered herself to have grown too close to the Scions. Putting some good old-fashioned distance between herself and them should have done the trick, as it always had before, but as if some preordained force conspired otherwise, everywhere she went, there they were too. Adding to that, every time she ran away, she found she missed them and would go meandering back. It was for want of willpower to leave that she was here in Thanalan, and for that reason she was so distracted as to end up in this predicament.
The irony that Thancred, one of the first Scions she met, should show up to help her…
Mayumi forced another smile.
“Thank you, but you really don’t have to do this.”
Thancred smiled at her in return, but his was genuine and kindly. “Come now—you’re one of us aren’t you? It’s the least I can do in return for all you’ve done to aid us.”
A gasp slipped from Mayumi. One of them. She turned her face away, feeling a nervous heat burning her cheeks again.
“I-I suppose.”
His smile changed to a grin. “Ah! So we agree? Then let us be off then.”
~*~
“I’m really…really sorry about this.”
“Please. There is nothing to apologize for. You’re remarkably light, besides.”
Even though he couldn’t see it in their present arrangement, Mayumi still wanted to hide her face. Alas, burying in his shoulder was definitely not an option, though she doubted he would mind…
For the sake of the distance on foot, or should he have a need to swiftly dispose of unruly wildlife, Thancred bore Mayumi on his back. Essentially, it was a piggyback carry, and it only compounded her embarrassment—a persistent sensation she had been experiencing in abundance in recent moments. At least now she could go without him looking at her. With his attention focused ahead, the arrangement did give her plenty of freedom to look at him. Which meant she had the advantage of gleaning a proper read on his intentions.
Thancred and herself were in a similar line of work, and such labors required certain…inscrutability to belie your true motives. Because of this—Mayumi hated to admit—she was suspicious of his arrival.
It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that he had been making note of her comings and goings in addition to carrying out his duties for the Scions. He may have been shadowing her for some time, and she had been too absorbed in her thoughts to notice. But rather than the serious look she expected to find hidden behind his facade of a coincidence, Thancred appeared curious. As she was making note of this, he spoke.
“…What exactly were you doing out here? The Waking Sands is far to the west of here on foot, and the Rising Stones is further still to the north.”
A genuine question, and one she expected. That he made no mention of Ul’dah but only of where the Scions were stationed was telling. She knew what question he really intended to ask.
“I…” Mayumi’s gaze couldn’t help but wander the fog. “I was out on a stroll. Same as you. To clear my head, you know? It feels just as foggy in there as out here…”
It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either.
“Were you? How fortunate that I came around to lend a hand then.” He had cast her a glance over his shoulder. She caught his eyes, then he continued, adjusting his hold on her as they passed some docile wildlife. Mayumi wrapped her arms a little tighter around his shoulders, trying to guess his mind.
“I had wondered if you had caught ill. You were behaving strangely but a moment ago…”
“Oh… that,” Mayumi all but blushed again to recall the scene and her failed attempts to shoo him away. “I suppose the rush from the fall may have shaken me more than I thought. I’m sorry about that.”
“Fret not. I was only concerned for you.”
But Thancred was still unsatisfied.
“Are you certain you did not harm yourself at an earlier juncture? Perhaps while running afoul with the Sahagin? I would hate to think you’re simply prone to injury when roaming about unaccompanied. Something must have hindered a capable warrior like yourself for you to stumble so.”
Another question disguised with a compliment, though she did not doubt he meant what he said. It was typical of Thancred to speak in this manner even if his intention wasn’t to interrogate. Many of the Scions were always rather direct with their words in their own ways. Thancred words were as swift and as elegant as his bladework, complete with a dash of characteristic flourish. But when fighting in such close quarters, every strike mattered.
No matter her efforts, he would sense her slight bluff—she anticipated it—being that he always had a way with finding the gaps in her carefully crafted front of poise and friendliness, driving the point of the proverbial blade straight through, only to stop each time before piercing his mark. Was it out of mercy or sympathy? Understanding, she hoped.
“No, I managed to remain unscathed during that scuffle… And I’m rather used to traveling alone, actually.”
“You prefer solitude in your travels? Pardon my assumption but you did not give the impression. You may perform well on your own, however, you seem more than content to have others at your side.”
By Thacred’s practiced tone, she was right to anticipate. It seemed putting up a front before someone can become all the more difficult when that someone was no longer a stranger. Regardless, he was playing along—mayhap to be courteous—but Mayumi had every intention to maintain the little game.
“I don’t mind company. It’s very refreshing, but… I don’t require it to get by. Like I said, I’m used to traveling alone. The incident now was just an…unlucky encounter.”
“I see... It happens to the best of us.”
“Right…”
“Now, would said unlucky encounter pertain to the giant tortoise or a certain someone’s timely arrival?”
Mayumi tensed. That was far more direct than she was expecting. Did he know she had been avoiding him and the Scions? Of course he did. Nothing would escape his notice…
“No, no, it’s not that,” she quickly denied. “Giant tortoises are not really common in this part of Thanalan. Back there I thought it was safe to…catch my breath.” And to hide.
“Ah. I suppose you’re right…” Thancred agreed plainly. “The poor beast must have wandered in when this fog did.”
Mayumi watched as he drew a deep breath and sighed heavily. His shoulders had slackened by a margin, so she scooted closer into his hold to compensate.
“Enough of that then…” he said in a quieter voice.
Thancred’s demeanor changed at that moment, so she thought perhaps the middling interrogation was over. His gaze was downcast, appearing pensive.
“Forgive me, my lady, it was not my intention to trouble you.”
Mayumi’s eyes grew with surprise. Now an apology?
“O-oh! No, there was no trouble from you! It’s me really! I’ve been so distracted— Lately just about anything that isn’t pointing a weapon at me has been catching me off guard,” She paused, feeling sheepish. “Erm… including tortoises, being that they don’t bear arms.”
At her silly remark, Thancred chuckled.
“I would prefer it if I put you at ease rather than on the edge, but I take your meaning. A lot has changed since Ultima. The start of a new Era, for example, and the Scion’s official reveal to the public—little things like that.”
“It…takes some getting used to.”
Thancred stopped walking. Mayumi thought she had said something wrong, but that was not the case. An Axe Beak—another creature that had wandered in with the fog—was passing by in the near distance. It didn’t appear as if it would trouble them, but he kept a hand on the hilt of his knife regardless.
“I imagine this fog must be causing the merchants trouble,” he remarked.
While his eyes followed the creature’s shadow through misty clouds, he spoke again, and with the ease as if there were no threat at all.
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to speak with you, and since we might as well take advantage of our time together…”
The Axe Beak stalked aimlessly away, so he relaxed his stance and their trek continued. Mayumi peered at him over his shoulder.
“What is it?” she asked, already wondering what words he could possibly have for her. Was it about staying with the Scions? That was the very conversation she wasn’t willing to have. Everyone save for Urianger had inquired about it at least once.
“I wanted to thank you for protecting Minfilia.”
“I still haven’t— huh?”
That wasn’t what she thought to hear at all. In her confusion, Thancred went on.
“’Twas during our business with the Sahagin and their summoning of Leviathan,” he clarified. “While I did not doubt the Admiral’s capacity to protect her, it was reassuring to know another friend was at her side.”
A friend? Me?
Mayumi’s shoulders rose to her horns and she looked away, hiding herself in his blind spot.
“You were there for Minfilia at times when I could not be, and for that I am grateful.”
“I-it was nothing really,” Mayumi managed to fake a steadiness in her voice. “I wanted to be there.”
So soon after the Scions settled at the Rising Stones, an Ascian—Elidibus—had infiltrated, and had reached Minfilia in the Solar without detection. Mayumi was afraid Minfilia could be harmed by him again should she venture out, so she didn’t hesitate—she didn’t think about it. All that mattered was Minfilia’s safety.
“I am glad you could lend a hand, my friend. Your noble heart shines brightest in times like these.”
A frown tugged at her mouth. When was the last time she spoke to Minfilia? She still owed her an answer…
“That is heartening to hear. Your deeds on our behalf and that of others are most appreciated, Mayumi.”
Thancred speaking again startled Mayumi from her thoughts. She gathered them up again to provide a more lively reply.
“It’s my pleasure to help! Think nothing of it.”
“So terribly modest…” she heard Thancred mumble under his breath. The corners of his mouth were gently upturned.
“I shall continue to think highly of you. Not one thing will change that. Even should our paths one day diverge— though I would hope that day is not soon.”
It seemed he decided to be direct again after all. She could only assume he had sensed he may not have another chance to do so.
“What do you mean?”
Mayumi knew what he meant, but the words had slipped out anyway. Thancred had no trouble elaborating.
“Should you decide to keep to solitude, I shan’t hold you back,” his voice lowered again, quieter and almost timid to her surprise. “Just… know that you will always have a place with us— regardless of however things might play out.”
Mayumi fell into a short bout of silence. It was not that she expected the Scions to force her to remain with them—she knew they would not— it was that she had feared they would think less of her, that they would harbor disdain for her over her departure—that she would feel the same towards herself having made such selfless hearts spurn her. None of that was the reality, however.
The understanding she hoped for was real and present in the hearts of the Scions. Mayumi all but had their blessing to depart, and yet…
“Minfilia and the Scions… you’ve all been so kind to me,” Mayumi spoke clearly, suppressing any rogue emotions that might slip through. “I want to repay it, but in my own way. I…just haven’t figured out what that way will be yet.”
“I’m all but certain the Adventurers in Revenant’s toll are more than happy to have their own up-and-coming Warrior of Light enlisted among their guild members.”
Mayumi reeled back with such force she had nearly fallen off Thancred’s back.
“Warrior of Light?” She repeated, feeling incredulous and surely looking it, too.
“But of course!” replied Thancred without a trace of bluff. “Your deeds speak for themselves. It won’t be long before you're slaying Primals and the like all on your own. You can’t expect Arielle to do it all, can you?”
Mayumi shook her head in fervent denial.
“D-don’t be ridiculous! To slay a Primal one would have to have—“
Thancred gave her a knowing glance over his shoulder and Mayumi’s mouth hung open in shock.
He knows! Oh he knows! Of course Thancred would find out she possessed the Echo! And still they would let her shirk becoming a Scion?!
She turned her face away again.
“I-I’m no Warrior of Light… You’re letting your bard’s imagination run amok.”
“T’would be a song worth singing, I think. And I believe I do owe you a song.”
For a moment, she whole-heartedly believed he was ready to compose one on the spot.
“Please— Not now.”
Thancred grinned. “After a bit of proper rumination, perhaps.”
It was common knowledge that there were Immortal Flames stationed at a building in Camp Drybone to monitor the Amalj’aa. Being that the Scions and herself were on friendly terms with General Raubahn’s troops, there was where Thancred took her. Mayumi knew better than to protest.
Though the members there were not known to be the gentlest, they had chirurgeons at hand ready to tend to her hurts. Thancred did not depart until their treatment had concluded. At least, not until they had confirmed that what ailed her was indeed—by some stroke of luck—nothing more than a sprain. And some few dozen bruises. She was to remain and rest under the care of the Immortal Flames until the following day.
“All is well that ends well, I suppose.”
Thancred was leaning against the wall, watching Mayumi where she sat fiddling with the armor on her removed boot. Her ankle had been bandaged to help heal the sprain, but that did little for the kinks left on outer protectives.
“And here is where we part ways, such was my word.”
Mayumi raised her eyes from her busywork to Thancred. He pushed off the wall’s surface and walked unhurried until he was in her proper line of sight. She could tell by a glance that other words were brimming on his tongue, but she knew better than to think he would voice them explicitly.
“Should you have the time, might I trouble you to stop by the Rising Stones? Tataru often asks after you and I get the impression it is because she is missing you.”
“Tataru?” Mayumi said softly. A touch of melancholy graced her mood when imagining the Scion’s receptionist downcast. “…yes. You can be certain I’ll visit soon.”
I still have to speak with Minfilia…but I don’t have an answer for her yet. Did he know about that, too?
“It’s no hurry,” Thancred assured with a wave. “I have no doubt I speak for the both of us when I say I would rather you take your ease. All in due time, Mayumi.”
Mayumi nodded with a “Yes, of course,” and went back to fiddling with her armor, but she spoke again before hesitation could get the better of her.
“Thank you, Thancred.”
“It was no trouble,” Thancred replied with a smile, then raised his hand in parting. “Until next we meet, Mayumi.”
And so he turned to leave.
“Thancred?”
Mayumi’s near-sudden voice caused him to pause his steps and look back at her over his shoulder.
“Yes?”
Mayumi opened her mouth to speak, but froze up. She looked anxiously to the Flame soldiers that were near enough to be in earshot. It didn’t matter whether or not they appeared to be paying her any attention. They were there, and she did not want to risk it.
Thancred canted his head in curiosity before moving his eyes to follow what caught hers.
“Ah,” he sounded, having come to his own realization. With an innocent shrug he made his way back toward her and pulled a seat to take beside her. Mayumi almost felt embarrassed all over again and placed a hand aside her face to hide it for a moment. Still, she appreciated that he understood.
He waited for her to collect herself, all while not appearing too conspicuous to any possible onlookers.
“…How long have you known?” Mayumi finally asked, quiet enough not to be overheard. “About how I possess the…”
She didn’t finish. If he didn’t know, then…
Thancred rested his arms on his knees and folded his hands together, not looking particularly serious.
“Some time after Ultima,” he answered, just as quiet. “Don’t worry—no one told me your secret against your wishes. I found out on my own. Minfilia’s great interest in guiding you was a leading factor and I came to my own conclusions.”
“I-I see…” So he did know. At least no one had told him. “And… knowing that—you would still let me go?”
Thancred sighed.
“It’s less so ‘letting you go’ and more so ‘letting you make your own choice.’ The Scions would never force you or anyone to join us, though we may strongly recommend it for your own sake.” He shrugged. “Don’t… think too hard about it. You’re doing fine as you are now, in my humble opinion. No need to make any sudden commitments.”
Mayumi hummed, pensive, and in short fell silent. She continued to mess with her boot, sliding the armor back into its proper places.
“Was that all you wanted to say?” came Thancred again.
Was it? “I think so…”
“Positively certain? Any other kind of non-disclosure you would like to inquire about?” Now he was teasing.
Mayumi cracked a smile and shook her head. “No.”
“Then by your leave, I shall take mine.”
Mayumi nodded, finding herself too shy to look at him. “You…you can tell Tataru I’ll be coming by the Rising Stones soon.”
“Of course. She will be glad to hear it.”
He stood to his feet. “In that case, I reckon we’ll be seeing each other again soon.” Thancred offered a small bow to signal their parting. “Until then.”
“Thancred?”
He paused again, and as he was righting himself, Mayumi spied an amused smile on his lips with a raised eyebrow to match. “Yes?”
Mayumi made an effort to meet his eyes, despite the harmless teasing look in them. “Thank you.”
His smile warmed, squinting his eyes ever so slightly.
“Any time, my friend.”