Chapter Text
O’tchakha hung the metal kettle back on its hook over the fire, taking great care to ensure it didn’t clink too loudly. She pondered the leaves as they steeped in their fine metal cage and wondered if she could ask Nyrith to send another parcel when she returned to Ala Mhigo.
She collected her cup, letting her hands cradle it as she stepped up the short stairs. The woven mat flooring masking the sounds of her steps, she moved to the window where she slid the wood-framed paper panels open and sat on the sill. Blowing on her tea to cool it down somewhat, she stared out of the inn room window, contemplating the walled garden outside.
The Bokairo Inn had been her home away from home for a while now, and while the pristinely-maintained gravel beds and trees were relaxing to look upon, the scenery was nothing compared to the sights they had seen in the past few months.
The true forms of the Four Lords, for one. The existence of four great spirits had been the subject of many legends, including the story of Tenzin. Not only that, but the historical places in which they dwelled beneath Hell’s Lid and in the halls of Swallow’s Compass. It still beggared belief that Rae was likely a reincarnation of the man who taught that first monk the Riddles of the Elements.
Then there was that business with the Garlean Envoy, Asahi, and his poor sister, Yotsuyu… Rae had briefly explained that the woman had once been a ruthless viceroy for the Garlean Empire, but she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the woman after the time they had spent together. Nobody deserved such torture… And to top it all off, there was the vision of Zenos giving Asahi his instructions, and the unfortunate report that Zenos’ grave had been discovered to be vacant by Lyse, Alisae and Thancred…
It had been many months since Thancred had departed for Garlemald to check on Alphinaud. While she knew the Scions and K’rae weren’t on the best of terms, she knew he was worried about his old friends.
There was the sound of a body settling into the space she had vacated on the bed, a soft grumble, and then silence. O’tchakha turned her head in time to see Zentsa’s hand patting the empty space, before she found Rae’s hand. She squeezed it, and held it to her chest before seemingly running out of motivation to do much more than that.
O’tchakha chuckled softly into her mug, admiring the way both of them looked in this moment. She wished she could let them sleep for as long as they wanted, but they had at least some pressing matters to attend to today. Even though it was still very early in the morning, she could hear the distant sounds of barkers in the Rakuza district peddling their wares and services. They would likely need to move soon if they wanted to secure a spot in the springs. After that, they would be meeting with Ella and the kids for a proper tour of the city of Kugane.
The memory of dinner in Ella and Hikaru’s house sprung back to her and brought with it a smile to her face. She tried not to chuckle too loudly as she remembered the pre-dinner entertainment of Airi telling them that Rae left before she got a chance to show off her kendo skills. Not wanting to risk another missed opportunity, Airi begged her mom for a chance to spar with Uncle Rae.
What Ella neglected to tell them until after the display was that the general age to start learning the martial art was, reportedly ‘as early as possible’. The image of the Foremost Fist struggling to fend off and not injure the girl who was ‘nearly eight’ would stick with O’tchakha for some time. Despite the bruises, it appeared that Rae had a talent for playing along with kids.
Zentsa’s joy at the young girls’ swordsmanship and K’rae’s mounting bruises had immediately endeared Airi to ‘Auntie Zentsa’. So much so that Zentsa spent the evening fending off Airi’s seemingly tireless list of questions about herself.
O’tchakha sighed happily and continued to drink her tea, her gaze moving from the view outside the window to the much more enjoyable view inside. She allowed herself to linger in that moment, and would have been content to watch them until they awoke, if a knock at the door didn’t interrupt her reverie.
She cursed the unseen knocker as her partners began to stir.
She strode over to the bed, kissing each of them on the side of the head, and assuring them,“I have it. Rest.”
She drew the covers up over their shoulders before moving to the door. She set her cup down on the side table, adjusted the hang of her yukata, and opened the door.
O’tchakha was surprised to see a familiar white-haired Miqo'te, accompanied by a broad-shouldered, muscular Hyur man in a yellow dogi.
“Lady Y’shtola? Lord Hien?” she said, stepping back just a little to offer a respectful bow. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Miss O’tchakha,” Lord Hien beamed with a level of enthusiasm that was almost offensive to be welding this early in the morning. “I hope you are well. I trust the accommodations are to your liking?”
“W-why yes, My Lord. Thank you,” O’tchakha nodded, looking between the pair of them. “But… I assume you’re here for more than just a routine check-in?”
“We bring news for Rae. We would ask for his aid in a rather sensitive matter, but do not come empty-handed.”
“We brought breakfast,” Hien added helpfully, gesturing to a trolley of covered dishes, likely from the Inn’s kitchens. “Is everyone, er… decent?”
After everyone was properly suited to welcome visitors, the five of them sat around the small dining table in the inn room. The breakfast that had been presented was of several Eorzean-style dishes that the chefs of the Bokairo Inn had tried to recreate.
K’rae was just finishing off his Riviera-style omelette, but there was still mess on the plate. He pulled a slice of toast towards him, and began to apply a healthy layer of butter.
“Well, as nice as this has been,” K’rae mused, smirking at his own upcoming joke, “I know when I’m getting buttered up. What’s this about?”
Y’shtola cleaned the edges of her mouth with a napkin and explained Thancred’s findings in Garlemald -- about the unrest, that the Populares had been drowned in dissent and that Alphinaud’s airship had not reached Garlemald. She continued to explain that she and Hien had found it in a stretch of blighted land to the north of Yangxia known as the Burn.
K’rae’s hand slowed in the act of buttering the toast as he listened intently. He let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding when Y’shtola assured him that Alphinaud’s body was not found in the wreckage, but Garleans of the Populares and Emperor's personal guard were. K’rae shared the sentiments of Y’shtola and Hien that Alphinaud could handle himself, and was glad that someone would continue to monitor Alphinaud’s linkpearl.
That same civil unrest and Garlean in-fighting was threatening to spill into Doma, which brought the pair to K’rae, and to the point of their explanation.
“While in the burn, Y’shtola and I chanced upon some Allagan ruins,” Hien explained.
K’rae rolled his eyes on instinct, but decided to hear her out. “You did?” he asked curiously, but with a cautious air. “Not another regenerating primal problem, is it?”
“Blessedly not,” Y’shtola smirked. “While you and your partners would be best-suited to tackle such a threat, I sensed no such threat as that there. However, as such ruins go, they were not particularly unusual, but something about the surrounding land struck me as odd. Faint though it was, its aetherial residue was uncannily similar to that of Azys Lla. Identical, in fact. For locations so far removed to share a single aetheric signature is all but impossible. I conclude therefore that the Allagans created the floating continent with land taken from the Burn.”
Y’shtola watched K’rae, curious to see if the pieces would suffice to give him a clue to what she had planned. K’rae closed his eyes and cast his eyes back to Azys Lla. Research and containment… Holding cells of Tiamat and the Warring Triad both, but there were no primal threats… And then it dawned on him -- the problem that they had solved by Y’shtola’s return to them.
“... The energy barrier! Not even that Agrius-class ship could get through something like that…” K’rae said with a nod. He opened his eyes to see Y’shtola smiling with something akin to amused pride. “Did you see any Allagan field generators?”
After a brief description of the devices in question, Hien nodded. “Yes, exactly. I saw one of those.”
“Alright,” Zentsa mused, covering her mouth as a thought urged her to chime into the conversation while she was still chewing, “but if you don’t mind me saying, even if you put up a barrier like that, what’s to stop the Garleans from flying around it? Or over it?”
“Fuel,” Hien said simply. “Rabanastre, the Dalmascan capital, was a key refueling point.”
“And the Imperials laid waste to it not long ago, if I’m not mistaken,” Tchakha observed, topping up Zentsa’s tea. “By making an example of them, the Empire must have shot itself in the foot.”
“My eastern geography isn’t the best,” K’rae admitted, “but without Rabanastre to detour to, the only way to invade Doma would be across the Burn?” Hien nodded, grinning. “But, hold on – even if the generator still works, you’d need a lot of energy. The Burn’s a wasteland, scoured of aether -- you said so yourself. Where would you get the juice?”
Y’shtola nodded towards Hien, who grinned. “I may have an answer to that. To find out for sure, we would need to visit the Azim Steppe. Which would present the perfect opportunity to discuss an alliance with the Xaela. It would be a boon to have you there with us, Khagan. While you handed off the title, you are still respected for your victory in the Nadaam.”
K’rae considered the proposal, and then said, “Well, I was planning on taking the girls there eventually. What do you think? Up for a little change of scenery?”
Tchakha nodded excitedly. “Oh, yes! I would love to!”
“Oh, so that wasn’t all a puffed-up story?” Zentsa teased. “This I have to see, Khagan.”
“Means skipping out on the springs,” K’rae sighed, pushing himself to his feet, “but diplomacy waits for no man.”
“Very good. We have a ship ready to leave at our notice, to cross the Ruby Sea,” Y’shtola smirked, rising to her feet. “Meet us on the docks when you are ready.”
She knew K’rae would say yes.