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When Illuga signed up to the Knights of Favonius he was expecting everything to be smooth sailing. He’d rise the ranks quickly, show everyone his hidden talents and then he’d part with them when his Pops witnessed how suited he’d be for the Lightkeepers. But everything was far from relaxed and that's all thanks to one man. Vice- Captain Lohen, his current superior.
First, let's rewind. Illuga was but a cook for the Lightkeepers and the adopted son of the Starshyna. He’d always wanted to join the Lightkeepers, to help people. In his spare time he would use his training from his youth to fight against the Wild Hunt.
But despite all of that. His old man still wouldn’t let him into the Lightkeepers, he worried for his life so Illuga couldn’t necessarily blame him. Days, months, years he spent begging only to end up with harsh rejection. Then the Knights of Favonius arrived.
They sought to recruit locals from Nod Krai, with similar duties and also the promise to save people, Illuga applied without hesitation. This time there was nobody to put their foot down and stop his chance. Grandmaster Varka was the one to accept him and was rather impressed with his skills, he did also ask Illuga to promise him Nikita wouldn’t kill him over the whole thing.
Life in the Knights of Favonius had been pretty smooth sailing, he still commuted from Piramida, albeit still trying to avoid Nikita whenever he approached. He’d been assigned to the Knights Fifth company and although far ranged weapons were not his speciality there seemed to be no problem with him wielding his spear from time to time.
Illuga had yet to meet his superior, word has it that the current Captain was stationed in Mondstadt while Vice- Captain Lohen was the one who accompanied the company to Nod Krai. There were many negative rumours floating around about Lohen but he didn’t want to judge until coming face to face with the man.
In fact the first time they came face to face was not in the training grounds but rather the battlefield. The weather was as wild as the monsters, people fell at his every side. Illuga had experience but still found himself struggling.
Illuga had done his best to protect everyone but unfortunately most of the new recruits were unprepared when it came to facing the wild hunt, although there was a mix of people who did grow up here but there were many who only recently moved to Nod Krai.
There was a scream alongside a flash of blue, Illuga snapped his head just in time to witness a person dig their pole arm into one of the larger enemies.
“Vice Captain! Where have you been?” Someone beside him muttered.
So this was his superior? Didn’t seem very leader- like to Illuga and he wasn’t afraid to show his distaste. Who shows up towards the end of a battle?
“Your people- we were close to dying, why only now have you shown your face when you should have been offering guidance?” Illuga challenged.
Lohen stopped, leaping down on the floor and sending him a look. There was no fury in those eyes but rather a deep hint of amusement. He approached with careful steps.
“And tell me. Who are you? Can’t say I recognise your face and I tend to remember pretty things.” He smirked as though the whole situation was a game to him and Illuga tried to act like the casual flirting didn’t affect him.
“I’m Illuga… a knight of the fifth company who was recruited by Grandmaster Varka.”
“Then that makes you my junior. Speaking out at your Vice Captain like this is pure disrespect, when you get back to the Keep I expect you to do a thousand push ups.” And as if it couldn’t get any worse, Lohen gave him a tough slap on the shoulder. A warning.
“That’s– I apologise, Sir Lohen. That was rude of me to do.”
“Won’t bite, hmm? You’re no fun.”
After that he was gone with the wind as though he was never there in the first place. Few of the Knights complimented him on his bravery while the others expressed their pity at his punishment.
The next time he met Lohen was surprisingly on the Favonius Keep training grounds. That morning he was running slightly late by Nikita finally confronting him- ah well he doesn’t want to think about that right now.
His fellow knights were huddled around the training and Illuga couldn’t believe the sight when he forced his way through the crowd. Standing in the center of the grounds was Lohen holding an apple and a few feet beside him was Ursula aiming a musket right at him.
When the trigger was pulled Lohen by some luck still had a head and the apple was still within his grasp. She had hit a tree behind, nowhere near her target but she didn’t seem frustrated but rather relieved to have missed the Vice Captain.
One by one the knights had given a go at shooting the apple, with more hitting the target than not. The closer a bullet got the more excited Lohen became, only to become disappointed when they missed their mark.
His behavior was incredibly reckless and many things could have gone wrong without necessarily being a human error. Someone needs to teach this Vice Captain a lesson before he gets seriously injured.
“Let’s see who will go next…. Aha you!”
Illuga looked up to see a finger pointed in his direction. The Vice- Captain beckoned him to come closer.
“Would it be alright if I used my crossbow instead?”
“Makes no difference to me. As long as you hit the target I know I’ve done a good job teaching you.” Teaching him? He didn’t teach him a damn thing! This time he kept that to himself.
Illuga was still getting used to his crossbow but Aedon had helped him with target practice and he’d like to say his skills had improved drastically in the past few weeks.
So although he should have easily hit the apple, he aimed for something higher. And by the time Lohen followed the weapons direction of fire. It was too late.
The arrow whizzed past the apple, heading to the tips of teal locks, slicing a few strands of hair off in the process. There was silence as the arrow was finally stopped by a large rock.
Nobody moved. Nobody talked. And then- “Hahahhahahah.” A manic laugh resounded through the area.
“Normally I would brush this off as a terrible aim but you fully intended to strike near my head. How naughty, still full of disrespect." Lohen threw the apple behind him and began to stalk towards him like a predator again.
“Illuga, oh sweet Illuga. I haven’t been this entertained by a knight in a long, long time. I think I’ll keep you around.” Lohen flashed him a genuine smile but there was something eerie about it.
Oh no… the whole reason he’d joined the knights was to gain some experience and prove to Nikita he was worthy of the Lightkeepers but Lohen doesn’t seem to be willing to let him go so easily. Maybe he should have just pushed his old man a little harder after all.