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Mount Ronkon scenery was something to behold, an idealistic vast and beautiful landscape. Mostly left untouched because of the Oni-infestation that had taken up residence there, adding a significant taint on the natural serenity of the mountain. Fortunately, the many scattered trees were still rich with crispy browns and lush greens that grew around the abandoned pathways of the past. The peaceful ethereality of the landscape almost makes the Warrior of Light regret coming here. Once this place was cleared again, would people choose to set up residence here? Would that then break the peaceful harmony that nature had manage to thrive and achieve?
Alas they supposed it was a far better result than some rambunctious Oni getting out of the mountain and causing irreversible devastation to the general populace. Extermination is what the Warrior had been specifically hired to do here. Well, that and be a bodyguard to a notoriously well-known merchant.
Though so far said professional bodyguard duty had felt more akin to babysitting, reminding them of their time watching over a certain young elezen, that had a talent for getting himself into all sorts of political messes. That boy back in the day was also fond of getting himself into frequent physical danger as well.
Fortunately, Hancock did know when to back away and hide behind a bush or crumbling stone lantern like a good, unarmed civilian. But among the few times they had ventured into this place in search of treasure, Hancock had gotten himself into a few sticky situations. Making the Warrior work overtime, juggling a few Oni whilst slinging a spell or any available improvised weapon to keep Hancock in one piece. Although quite fast for a weak bodied merchant, he would shatter like a priceless hingan vase if so, much as one stray Oni took a swing at him.
To be honest the last adventure the unlikely pair taken into the temple within Mount Ronkon, the spectacled merchant had chosen to not stop his winsome flowery speeches. After one-to-many non-stimulating lectures, the famed Warrior of Light was on their last nerve. That day, they were already exhausted and had low sleep due to rampant nightmares, from the unhealed terrors and trauma’s they had seen on their many adventurous journeys. They still remember the vivid dream playing out, one where they lost the twins to another calamity. Seeing the haunting images of the twins transforming into mindless beasts had been enough to cast the Warrior’s fragile hope of peaceful and restful sleep out the proverbial or window. Or shoji as Handcock would gleefully inform them in his pitched know it all voice.
As a result, when the wary Warrior of Light was sure they had cleared out all the nearby and immediate threats from a room inside of the temple, a devious plan had sprung into their mind. Out of petty and tired spite they had decided to play a minor prank on the ever-chatty Hancock. Whilst he was inspecting a wall hanging with the vested interest of a self-proclaimed treasure fanatic, babbling on about market values and general know how about ceremonial sword prices. The Warrior had taken the golden opportunity to sneak up the side of some crates and onto the edge of the second floor. They did so with practiced ease and well those previous hours of climbing Kugane tower had also helped. Many hours of risky jumps and almost breaking their shins had finally paid off. Granted they had been drunk on sake at the time and were in a ridiculous bet with another adventuring companion of theirs. Funnily enough, the view had been worth it when the Warrior had woken up the next morning on top of one of the towers highest roofs. However, a bad hangover and vertigo had made getting down, quite a unpleasant task. They distinctly remember leaving their stomachs contents in a stray well kept flowerpot.
At the time of the climbing boxes prank, poor Hancock had seemed unusually flustered and daunted at being left behind by his renowned world saving bodyguard. This resulted in him climbing some stairs with due haste to try and reach the Warrior of Light’s new location. They had felt some twisted sense of satisfaction at finally putting the merchant that always seemed to never falter in his place. Due payback for the hours of endless babbling, that had been battering the Warrior’s tired mind.
Well unfortunately there had been a hitch in the plan and as Hancock had been approaching the Warrior from a distance, scrambling with barely concealed haste toward his protector’s side. A rouge stray lantern Oni had unfortunately noticed the merchant’s presence and had started instantly casting a fire spell.
The Warrior’s world had turned into slow motion as a fire spell had been directly targeted towards Hancock. They could have sworn for a second it was a blue spear like light about to pierce the blond man’s middle. Even though their mind was in turmoil the Warrior’s battle honed body had instinctively sprinted towards Hancock and manhandled the merchant behind them, turning so they took the brunt of the attack. As the Warrior turned shield gritted their teeth, the flames flared licking and spitting at their back. Burning patches of their clothing off, mercilessly leaving raw and angry burns in their wake. When the fire spell had finally stopped, they had dispatched the lantern Oni easily after.
Wincing as the burns stung, they turned to their dishevelled looking ward. Hancock had had his glasses askew and was mostly unharmed. The merchant had stood himself up and said something snarky, brushing off the situation with practiced ease. But his well veiled composure could not stop the Warrior from seeing the lingering fear in his visible violet eyes. Nor did it stop them from seeing the angry red burn mark on the composed man’s left arm. The oval like bloody, angry burn stood a violent contrast to the man’s milky porcelain skin.
Upon seeing the painful looking mark, the Warrior had silently changed into their healing garb and gently grabbed the merchant’s shoulder with their hand visibly scarred from old fights. They silently healed the burn completely before tending to their own festering wounds. The shaky pained intake of breath from the blond merchant did not go unnoticed by the Warrior. Despite Hancock's dismissive assurances and jokes about adventures and their obsessions with climbing things. Shame had creeped up inside of the Warrior like a coiling poisonous snake, a hatred for their own critical mistake that had almost cost someone else’s life to be lost. They should have known better and not risked the safety of their fragile charge for some petty childish revenge. They couldn't afford to lose Hancock, they couldn't lose someone again to their own incapability.
The rest of that Mount Ronkon treasure search had been filled with a tense and stressful air. The Warrior of Light was more silent then normal and even Hancock had said less words per minute.
Later that night, in the Warrior’s restless sleep they were once again haunted by the memories of their tragically lost blue haired friend. The dream had warped and twisted further, even to Hancock’s echoing voice asking them to smile because it suited a hero.
That's why today, a few weeks after the last trip, the Warrior had chosen to make good use of their sage job stone. They had casted and connected kardia to Hancock before they had even entered the Oni infested area. To be prepared they placed a sufficiently powerful shield onto the slightly bewildered merchant before nearing any roaming Oni. They had been diligently checking for the blond man’s whereabouts and safety more often than needed. This had resulted in the Warrior getting clipped by the enemy’s spell cast a few times, because they were distracted. One tree abomination had got a particularly good swing in on the Warrior’s right leg. It would ache badly tomorrow; unfortunately, healing magic could only do so much. Nonetheless it was a far better outcome than their current travel companion getting hurt again.
If Hancock had noticed the extra attention, he had not paid any mind to it. The man seemed unflappable, exactly like he was on past excursions. He never seemed to mention the previous accident from their last trip either, almost as if it never happened. Part of that deeply bothered the Warrior, how could this man be so indifferent to difficult previous circumstances?
Though the Warrior had noticed one thing different about the merchant, he did seem unsteady sometimes and had chosen to sit down to rest more than usual. Taking time to pause and babble on about scenery facts that made little to no meaningful sense. The constant rest stops had made the Warrior channel a bit more of their potent aether into healing the merchant.
Currently the pair were resting at an abandoned outdoor hot spring, a brief respite before they continued their trek up the ragged mountain path. Hancock had made some ridiculous comment about the value of some of the rocks and sat down to examine them in detail. The Warrior could not begin to understand context wise what the man was even looking at but shrugged and sat down next to him anyway. Instinctively keeping near just in case anything dangerous puts the chattering merchant at risk.
After a few boring moments of observing the man looking downward they start to worry about Hancock's welfare. What if earlier he had gotten bruised or injured by one of the flying projectiles the wheel looking Oni were throwing? What if this fool of a man had tripped into a poisonous trap when they weren’t looking?
Anxiety clouds the Warrior’s mind as they go over every worst possible situation in their overactive imagination. Seeing Hancock harmed in many various and terrifying ways. The haunting image of the blistering burn against the frail man’s skin, torments the back of their mind as a reminder of their previous failure to protect him.
Gripped by a traumatic fear, their heartbeat rapidly quickens and on reflex they subconsciously cast an extremely potent healing spell on Hancock. The man in question groans in response and the Warrior starts to cast another even stronger potency heal. Before that the man in question, shaking voice cuts like a knife through the air.
"Please stop, the healing is making my stomach turn. I'm aware you may find my presence aggravating but I'm very close to depositing my stomachs content into this sacred spring...."
His flowery speech Tapers off as he deeply groans again.
The Warrior’s panicked mode does not fully subside, but the sudden comment is enough to redirect their frantic attention. Their rarely used voice comes out raspy as they speak hastily.
"You are fine, not hurt at all?"
Their eyes rake all over Hancock's body checking for any visible injuries on the merchant. Trying desperately to detect anything he could be skilfully hiding.
Oddly Hancock cheeks seem to dust a faint pink at the sudden scrutiny, which stands out against his starkly more pale than usual complexion. The man chooses to avoid the Warrior’s direct gaze while he responds to the query in a slightly snarky tone.
"I am physically fine, aside from being at an increased risk of seeing my lunch again. Your very constant over healing has made sure of that."
Hancock's violet eyes finally meet the Warrior’s concerned and frightful ones, and his own tense expression slackens a bit. An audible puff of air leaves the man, and he seems to visibly deflate.
"Ah, that was not your intention, was it?"
The Warrior’s expression seems to further shift as distress is replaced with clearly visible confusion.
"Intention to what?" I don't understand?"
Hancock deeply sighs and adjusts his glasses with his left hand.
"I had thought you were expressing some form of disdain or dislike toward myself and as such you were over healing me on purpose to make me aether sick.”
The Warrior opens their mouth to speak but Hancock raises his hand to stop them before he continues to ramble on.
"Now with the clear evidence before me and additionally the common sense that such accredited one-of-a-kind hero as yourself would clearly not have that level of malicious intent within you. I… was a fool to not come to a logical conclusion about your behaviour. Nor should I have made such vast assumptions on such little evidence, ones that defile your good character. For that grave miss-step of mine, you have my sincerest apologies."
Taken aback, the Warrior does feel a little hurt that Hancock seemed to think so ill of them. But they wonder why it bothers them so? This man had only ever been a tolerated acquaintance at best. Since when did swindling merchant’s opinions of them matter? Why did this man’s opinion in particular matter?
They leave those circling thoughts to fester inside as the Warrior decides to place importance on another question instead. Their voice cracks slightly as they speak.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner it was affecting you? I would have stopped or at least adjusted my frequency of healing?"
The merchant pauses at the question and lets silence settle over them for a few moments as if he is weighing up his options. Though soon enough he decides on what he wants to say.
"Well, in my profession you are taught to tolerate and withstand whatever it is that may make you uncomfortable or cause you pain, so you can reach the desired end result. Sympathy is not usually an offer of choice in the merchant’s markets. Let alone the one run by my current primary employer.”
The bespectacled man hesitates as if the next words are personally hard for him to say.
"I admit, I may have had some sad song of a childhood, like many other poor orphans originating from Ul’dah do and that may also impact my ability to express weakness. Even confessing to something as small as an upset stomach."
A wry smile plays on the notorious merchant’s face as his mind seems to wander to a faraway place, a place of hard times that came before. His brow seems to furrow in an uncharacteristic way, a stark difference from his usual coeurl-like grin.
Tilting their head, the Warrior takes in the strange scene offered before them. Mulling over how vulnerably lost the merchant looks, so starkly different from the usually unflappable man that Hancock naturally was. The Warrior has many invasive questions on the tip of their tongue, but they visibly swallow the temptation back and instead offer the visibly downtrodden man a hearty pat on the shoulder.
"All is forgiven, I'll stop with the kardia connection and rely primarily on shields for now. Mayhap, my healing potency was just too much for you."
Hancock seems to visibly perk at the change in subject, his posture straightened, and a grin plays upon his face. Though it seems to lack some of its usual shiny potency. Adjusting his sitting posture to a more refined one he carefully crafts his reply.
"I assume so, my dear adventuring friend. You are quite the rare treasure when it comes to your raw fighting and healing prowess. I am honoured and privileged to be able to see it demonstrated close up."
The flowery words spoken by the man, oddly enough strike into the Warrior’s stoic defences. They find their face warms at the unnecessary complement, and they shift their vision to a nearby bush. Waving their right hand as if to bat the flattering words away.
"With those flattering words, I fear you are about to sell me something expensive."
Hancock's smile curls at the edges as he lets out a bark of laughter. Visibly amused he gracefully stands up from his previous poised sitting position and relaxes his pose.
"I would consider it quite a personal feat, to successfully make the impressive Warrior of Light part with their own hard-earned coin."
The Warrior follows the blond man’s lead and decides to stand. They choose to raise an unamused eyebrow at the merchant, visibly unmoved by his flowery flattery. They proceed to scoff as they break the connection of the kardia spell from the smirking man.
"I don't doubt your ability to charm others into your money schemes. But know it will have no effect on me."
Though their words are harsh in tone. It's clear that there is no real bite to them. They even tack on an additional short query that reveal’s a fragment of their true innermost thoughts and intentions.
"Feeling better?"
Hancock just takes the additional ribbing in his stride as usual, but as he hears the final question his visage visibly softens. Then his signature grin morphs into a genuine smile.
"I am, thank you for your patience in this matter."
Greatly reassured the Warrior snorts at the longer than necessary response and gestures for the merchant to follow them.
"Great, otherwise I would have had to carry you over my shoulder like a sack of popotoes."
Hancock is unfazed at the threat, but his eyes seem to rake over the Warrior of Light’s back as if imagining the scenario playing out in his mind. The money savvy man finds the thought of being carried by the Warrior not a unappealing thought, but tactfully keeps it to himself. Instead, he lets out a wheezy chuckle and follows his dutiful companion toward their next destination.
A few paces further and they both spot a small assortment of gaudy looking Oni floating in the distance, a stark contrast to the rich red maple trees that surrounded the area.
As they scan the future threats, sizing them up like a seasoned hunter. The Warrior rolls their shoulders in anticipation of the next necessary brawl, but not before casting a quick highly potent shield on Hancock, ensuring his persisting safety.
Magic twists and swirls as the protective yet hard to see magic shield forms around him. Hancock tactfully chooses to not comment on the overprotective behaviour of his current companion. Instead, he studies the Warrior of Light’s back as if it would give him the many answers he seeks.
Sage tomliths, swirl into place as the Warrior gets into a battle stance, though before they go on ahead, they suddenly stop, keeping their back still turned they speak a statement to the pondering blond merchant.
"After this we will go eat, I will pay for your dinner."
Hancock's eyes widen a fraction behind his glasses, but ever the diplomat he speaks effortlessly filling in the Warrior’s silence.
"Of course, my friend. It would be remiss of me to turn down such a tempting offer from the famed Warrior of Light themselves."
Silence is his only response, aside from the Warrior’s shoulders visibly tensing. Unfortunately that's the only accessible visible tell of their current state of mind.
Hancock makes a rational guess as to what the possible apology and potential offer truly could mean. He decides the possible investment of allowing his guard to drop is well worth the risk. His voice takes on an open tender and gentle lilt.
"What I mean to say is, I would like to join you for that offered dinner?"
Right after speaking Hancock skilfully slinks away to hide in a stray bush to avoid the Oni noticing his presence. It’s a mild discomfort being stuck among the leaves and prickly twigs, but his worn fragile heart skips a beat as he hears the short rough response of the Warrior as they dash forward into battle.
"Good. Stay safe."