Chapter Text
In the days following the eventful confrontation with H’raha Tia, K’rae had been called away as the completion of the Aetheric Ram meant that pursuit of the Archbishop, his Knights Twelve and his Ascian co-conspirators could continue apace.
Harcufant’s funeral had marked the last piece of business K’rae could stomach in Ishgard: he longed for a return to Revenant’s Toll, and to his suddenly inflated family of brothers and sisters.
Things had moved on slightly in his absence: Professor Erik and Tchakha’s research, aided by Urianger and Y’shtola’s unique insights into the flow of aether, had determined that H’raha’s Seventh Chakra was not irrevocably damaged, but it would not heal quickly. H'raha understood that his recovery would require time, patience, and discipline. Rushing to reopen it could mean permanently losing any chance of the Seventh Chakra opening for him ever again.
H’raha Tia had spoken to the monks who remained, and while his strength was less than what it had been, he still had decades of knowledge and a willingness to teach. After his confirmation that he sought to walk a more peaceful path, another few Monks had left quietly the night after.
As of today, the New Fist of Rhalgr was ten monks strong - five monks fully balanced chakra, two who had been trained solely in the Light, and three that had been instructed by H’raha.
Of the Sect of Light, Jujubugu the Lalafel, who had made a full recovery from the assault of the Shadow Sect, had been surprisingly welcoming of his former assailants, and been a shining example to Widargelt’s other original student in showing forgiveness when faced with an old enemy.
Chief amongst those former adversaries was Greinagl. Going by Bronze Nail to those that had no grasp of the old tongue, the Sea Wolf had been amongst those who had been the unfortunate recipients of two thrashings by the joint Mentors of Light, Widargelt and K’rae. Again, to everyone’s surprise but most of all K’rae’s, the Rogadyn had been shockingly accommodating of the new order of things.
K’rae had partly wondered if his going with the flow had been partly out of fear of reprisal from any of his new instructors, but Widargelt had assured him that Bronze Nail had taken to Widargelt’s lessons with enthusiasm, and a refreshing willingness to learn. There was even the beginnings of a budding rivalry between him and Juju.
K’rae lowered himself to the ground from the tree he had been using as an exercise frame, and watched on with a bemused smile as the two men ran drills against striking dummies on the shores of Silvertear Falls. They and the other pupils were being watched over by Tchakha, who was encouraging them to maintain their forms. Occasionally, she would call out for changes to keep them on their toes.
Widargelt and H’raha sparred some distance away under the watchful gaze of Zentsa. It filled K’rae with a cautious excitement, seeing the two men fighting as equals. These shores had seen so much of the life of this version of the Temple of the Fist, from K’rae and Widargelt’s brutal confrontation to now. Building a temple here was out of the question, of course, but he couldn’t help but think that they needed some place to house all of these people.
The Rising Stones thankfully had rooms enough for Widargelt and H’raha and Tchakha and Zentsa to share, and the others had found lodgings in Revenant’s Toll, but that was no way for a temple to live, scattered. Yes, something had to be done to give everyone their own space, but close together.
K’rae’s eyes fell upon Tchakha. He folded his arms and rested his chin on his hand as he admired her from behind. That too was a reason for seeking grander lodgings. The two of them had not yet revealed to Widargelt or H’raha that they were now involved in a relationship. The only other person that knew was Zentsa, K’rae’s metamour.
Tchakha had, of course, spoken to K’rae about her feelings for Zentsa and what had transpired after her rescue. Having come from a culture where polyamory was the norm, rather than the exception, K’rae had encouraged Tchakha to pursue where her heart led. Zentsa on the other hand was clearly more than a little jealous of Tchakha and K’rae’s budding romance. This had meant that K’rae’s time with Tchakha had been rather limited, while Zentsa herself was sleeping in the same room as her girlfriend.
Tchakha seemed to sense K’rae’s eyes upon her, and turned to take him in. She smiled softly, looked to her pupils and called for them to take laps of the training space. She laughed encouragingly as Brass Nail and Jujubugu rushed to get out ahead of each other, before wandering over to where K’rae was standing.
“Instructor Tchakha,” K’rae grinned. “It has a nice ring to it.”
Tchakha laughed warmly and leaned against the tree beside K’rae. She leaned her head on his shoulder and pressed her arm against his, subtly nuzzling in against him. “Why thank you, Master Rae…”
“Hey, now,” K’rae teased. “Call me whatever you want, but I don’t teach.”
“You taught me,” she pointed out as their tails wound around each other. “And Zentsa.”
“Well, you were both pretending you didn’t know what you were doing,” K’rae pointed out, nuzzling his head against hers when the coast was clear. “There’s probably something in the teachings about actively dating your pupils. I don’t want to get smited.”
“Smoten, dear,” Tchakha corrected kindly, as she slipped her hand up into the crook of his arm and held him by the bicep.
“Thank you, yes. Anyway, I’m just another member of the Order.”
“More than that,” Tchakha smirked, looking up at him. “To me, at least, you’re a gentle soul, a shining inspiration, and cut a dashing figure in the robes of the order.”
She leaned up and kissed him swiftly on the cheek, and settled down against him, purring softly. K’rae chuckled warmly, and closed his eyes, content in that moment.
“So, if you’re free this evening,” K’rae mused, pausing for confirmation before continuing.
“I might be…?”
K’rae grinned and continued, squeezing her hand gently with the crook of his arm, “I’ve been working on this Ishgardian recipe that —“
”Tchakha! Rae! Hey!”
The moment was interrupted by the sound of Zentsa approaching and calling out to them both. Reluctantly, tails unwound and they each slipped away from the other, as the Masters of each sect were now no longer distracted.
”What’re you two lovebirds talking about?” Zentsa teased, leaning around the other side of the tree beside Tchakha and kissing her cheek.
“Rae and I were just discussing dinner plans,” Tchakha said, happily leaning into her girlfriend.
“Oooh, what’re we having?” Zentsa grinned.
“Uhm… we?” Tchakha laughed softly. “Zentsa, I don’t think —”
“No, it’s fine. I have enough provisions for all of us. Sauteed Porcini, Royal Eggs, Fig Bavarois, and Sohm Al tart and coffee for dessert,” K’rae said calmly.
“Porcini? Blech, I hate mushrooms,” Zentsa mumbled.
“Since when?” Tchakha asked curiously, who had seen the woman inhale a mushroom omelette for breakfast two days ago.
“I dunno,” Zentsa mused airily. “Must be the way you make them,” she added, sticking her tongue out at K’rae.
“Zentsa,” Tchakha said in a worried tone
“Alright then,” he said, trying to keep his voice light and conversational. “I can make you stuffed cabbage rolls instead.”
“Rae, you don’t need to do that—” Tchakha assured him.
“No, I would like to. I’ll bring it up to your room, with a good book and everything. That way, Tchakha and I can get some time together for once.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?!” Zentsa growled, scrambling around to get up in K’rae’s face.
K’rae stood to his full height, which wasn’t worth the effort, and looked Zentsa in the eye. He bit back a slightly more bitter retort, and said, “I’m not going to get into a shouting match with you, in front of the pupils. We will talk about all of this later.”
“I don’t see there’s much to—“
A distant shout cut through the tension of the situation.
”Heyyyy, [Spriggan-slayer]!”
K’rae turned away from a fuming Zentsa and looked towards the road out of Revenant’s Toll. A group of adventurers were headed out of the settlement, and escorting a Levemete of the Adventurer’s guild. The Levemete, a white-haired Miqo’te woman, had broken away from the pack and was picking her way down the slight incline from the road towards them.
K’rae moved to meet her, grinning. “Letyai, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
K’letyai Stuhl, K’rae’s tribe sister and Lememete of the adventurer’s guild, smiled and opened her arms to embrace him. “Whaaat, can’t a big sister come and see her baby brother from time to time?”
”In my experience? Only if there’s a job you need to get off your desk,” K’rae teased, giving her a firm hug. He’d long since given up arguing about the fact that minutes between births didn’t make her his ‘big’ sister.
”Rude… But not incorrect,” K’letyai shrugged, pulling away and holding his wrists, grinning at him. “Business can wait, though; looks like you’ve been busy recruiting to the order! Spill! What happened?”
Zentsa’s arms folded as K’rae turned his back on her to go hug this stranger. She pinned her ears back while she laughed and joked with him, tail thrashing behind her.
“Who’s that?” She grumbled.
“Appears to be an adventuring guild official,” Tchakha mused, smirking as she took in Zentsa’s posture. “I’d say you’re jealous that he knows other girls?”
“What? Tch, no? Why would I care about that…” Zentsa denied, somewhat flustered at the implication. “I’m not jealous… Wait, why are you not jealous?”
“Rae had his own life before us, Zentsa,” Tchakha gently reminded her, stroking a hand up and down her back. “Besides, if I were jealous of that shirt of thing, when I have both of you, I would be somewhat of a hypocrite.”
Zentsa grumbled an affirmative, but kept her eyes firmly on the back of K’rae’s head.
Tchakha smiled softly, and said, “You seem awfully keen on who he’s paying attention to...”
Zentsa blushed and tore her eyes away from K’rae’s back to look at her girlfriend. “… What if he looks at someone else? What if he’s not good to you?” she deflected.
Tchakha sighed softly, and gently tugged her into a hug. “I’m certain you’d have words to say about that… Look, he’s a good man. You know that. You saw it… You wanted to go see the temples with him… And we still can, hand in hand,” she assured her with a gentle smile. “I have two hands, Zentsa, and room in my heart, enough for both of you… And I know you have that capacity as well.”
”… If he makes you mad, he’s gonna be sorry…”
Tchakha gently bumped foreheads with Zentsa as she grumbled, and then gently guided her over to where K’rae was standing. “Come, let’s go introduce ourselves.”
“…and so they joined us,” K’rae nodded.
“Gods, this is why I don’t go adventuring anymore,” K’letyai laughed. She looked past K’rae to where Tchakha was leading a grumpy Zentsa towards them, and said, “Oh? And these are?”
“Ah, K’letyai, I’d like you to meet O’tchakha and D’zentsa,” K’rae beamed. “Girls, this is my sister Letyai. She works for the Adventurer’s Guild,” he added, as if the Levemete uniform wasn’t a clear enough indicator.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Tchakha beamed, bowing politely. “Rae’s often spoken of you, K’letyai.”
“Oh, Rae has, has he?” Letyai mused, eyeing K’rae with the smirk of a family member who’s just gotten a hold of some juicy gossip about a sibling.
“So, business?” K’rae asked, laughing nervously as Tchakha clapped her hand over her own mouth.
“Alright, yes, I really should get going, but here - mission from the Guild,” Letyai nodded, producing an intricate piece of stained glass, encased in a metal framework and about the shape, if not the thickness, of a Deck of Sixty card. The glass depicted the seal of the Immortal Flames.
K’rae took the Guildleve, turning it over and over in his hand. “Before I accept, what am I getting into?”
“The Houses of Ishgard have reported delivery shipments haven’t been arriving at their destinations. The Flames have reached out to us, calling for you in particular. The deliveries were all due through a certain area of the Western Highlands, but never arrived at their checkpoint. If you head to Falcon’s Nest, you can speak to the guards there. All the other relevant info we have is here,” she added, indicating the magically-enchanted pass.
“Alright.” K’rae nodded. “I’ll set out tomorrow.”
“Great, hold out the pass?”
As K’rae did so, Letyai closed her eyes to bind him to the mission. Tchakha eyed the pass between them, and nodded to herself, before grabbing Zentsa’s hand and placing it on the card as well.
“Wha—?” was all Zentsa could manage, before a flash of light illuminated her and K’rae, blowing their hair back slightly.
“You will both be compensated upon completion of the mission, based on— wait, both?”
“Huh?” Zentsa mumbled, looking at her hand.
“Looks like I have a plus-one,” K’rae chuckled, looking at Tchakha with a wry smirk.
“Well, it sounded like a wonderful excuse to work together for a while,” Tchakha nodded. “I’ll make sure she packs warm clothing. Come on, Zentsa, let’s go call the pupils and cool down.
”Wait, what did you even sign me up for!? I wasn’t listening!” Zentsa protested as she was led away by Tchakha.
Letyai watched the pair of women headed back towards the pupils and their masters.
“They’re cute,” Letyai mused, looking up to K’rae with a smirk. “Who’s who?”
“Zentsa’s joining me for the mission, Tchakha’s the one leading her away…”
“Wow… You’re all very comfortable, it seems, dropping tribe letters and everything?” Letyai grinned, happy to catch her brother out. “So… both of them?”
“Uhm… Just Tchakha,” K’rae assured. “But they’re in a thing together.”
“Shame,” Letyai shrugged, turning to leave. “D’zentsa didn’t tear her eyes off of you, if you didn’t notice. Anyway, duty calls!”
“Just… let me tell Wull and Lim… when the time is right?”
“Fiiiiine, spoilsport. Bring me something nice from Ishgard,” Letyai grinned, patting his arm before heading back up the hill towards the waiting adventurers.