Glimpse of Red

So the FC has been running a plot throughout November with high stakes and a few casualties. Kayne ended up being one of those casualties. I’ve been playing this character for around 5 years now and I felt that I had told all the stories he had to tell. He was my first rp character and I know I made some mistakes with him, but he was a great introduction to what rping in an mmo is like as well as a wonderful means to meet some of the people who are now my best friends. I’ll miss my big angry boy but it was time to move on to something different. I am unsure of what I’ll do with this page. I think it’ll just sit here for a while. I might eventually change it up for the new character, or I might just leave it as a testament to what once was. For now, so long Kayne Blackfire, and thanks for all the fish.

Over three years ago, Kayne took a sojourn to the Azim Steppe to discover more of himself, to find family. Fool that he is, he assumed the only family he could find was one of his blood. And though he did get to meet with blood relatives (an uncle and a few cousins), and though he got along with them well enough and grew to enjoy their company, they did not fill the void left in his heart by the loss of family. It was one of those cousins that revealed to him a great truth. To follow the path of his heart, wherever it may lead. And that at the end of that path he would find the bonds he seeked, be they for love or family or both.

It had been a while since Kayne found himself in his familiar dreamscape. The familiar stomach churning fear rose as he looked at the snowy field from the bank he was knelt on top of. The uncertainty of what horror his mind would choose to show him, what memory, what pain would be thrown at him to torment his fragile heart. His breath hitched as he felt the presence at his shoulder, the smaller frame, the lighter steps, the gentle hand that reached for him. This was not Chaumont, this was far worse. 

Slowly he turned his head to look at the raen clad in blue, his light, his love. His heart shattered anew at the look of distain on her face. The disappointment was clear and he knew the source. 

“He still lives. The one who took me.”

Kayne felt the rush of red as his anger surged even in his dreams at the mention of the man. He stamped it down, not willing to give in...

The roar of a dragon stopped him short as a great red beast circled down from the sky to alight in front of him. ‘Aurora’ walked around to Kayne’s front, placing herself next to the dragon’s talons.

“You were to become this. To take the power it could give you and avenge me. Yet you still maintain this farce of control. You still bind yourself to your weakness to appease those too afraid to do what must be done.”

As she spoke a small blue lizard emerged from the snows on her other side. She looked down on the creature with disgust before turning back to face him.

“Choose. Now. Become as the dragon and let the power of it’s rage guide you to justice, or be the lizard and know you will never be enough.”

Kayne looked back and forth between the two creatures, before his eyes settled on ‘Aurora’. For the first time, he forced the fear of this place down and steeled himself against the apparition. And when he spoke, his voice was strong.

“No. I will not choose. I will be both. I will have the patience the lizard affords me, the control to wait until the time is right. And I will have the power of the dragon, so when we are ready, and that will be soon, I will be able to mete out justice. I am more than either of these things and I will not be limited by fear and hatred.”

As Kayne posted up, leaning in the shadow of the pristine white building, watching the man that took his light away out of the corner of an eye, one might assume the xaela quite bold. He wasn’t overly disguised, nor super well hidden. He had long since discovered that he couldn’t slip into and out of places in quite the same way as before his growth spurt. In this instance, he simply used the bustling city to his advantage. Crowds would block him from view of his target, he carefully chose his gear to blend in as best he could, he would stay in the shade and try to move during that precious time after the sun had gone down, but while students and researchers where hurrying to food or homes for the evening. It would seem many Sharlyans lost track of time while working and so it was with great luck that the city was often very busy not long after sunset as the fading light alerted the people to the passage of time.

Many years ago

Kayne idly watched from the safety of his hill top as the the battle raged on. The dragons rained fire down on the knights even as the archers retaliated with a hail of arrows. None of it was what the xaela was interested in. He crouched, hidden in the snows as the whole battalion of knights was wiped out in a single pass of sharp claws and fiery breath. He remained in place as the archers fired another volley, shredding the wings of one dragon and grounding it. He seemed almost bored as the same dragon charged the archers tearing through them even as they mortally wounded it in kind. It wasn’t until the first of the small black figures slammed into one of the aerial dragon’s backs, taking the beast down, did Kayne stir to attention. This is what he had been waiting for. The dragoons. 

Now the xaela watched intently, analyzing the knights movements, their strike patterns, their technique. He hated watching the dragons fall one by one, but he would need to be patient should he truly learn their ways. He would soar through the skies as they did, to dive down on their enemies, to fight as dragons do. He would steal their power for his own and turn it on them in kind. As soon as he could get his hands on one of their soul stones. He knew one of the little blue gems would be required to truly steal their abilities and he knew how to get one. He just had to wait for one of the bastards to die. 

A/N: This story is not about Kayne. It follows the story of an alt I want to make at a later time.

A/N: This story is not about Kayne. It follows the story of an alt I want to make at a later time.

The young xaela woman was not used to things going her way. So it was with not a small bit of fear that she decided to leave the one good thing that had happened in her life and set out on her own for the first time. Well, mostly on her own, as the squeak of the ruby carbuncle at her side pointed out. The war with the Garleans was over, despite her own feelings on the matter, and she needed to get away from a place where the bastards were slowly beginning to be welcomed in to. And mayhaps, she’d find a group to join where she could continue to try to help make the world a better place. Wouldn’t that be nice? She glanced down to the carbuncle as he hissed and sputtered, looking very much like an angry cat. She bent to tend to him, soothing his ruffled fur? aether? It was soft at the least. She always got worked up thinking on the Garleans and it always sent Cobble into a fit. The little carbuncle was scooped up into her arms, so she could continue babying him as she walked.

“Shhh, Cobble. It’ll be fine. I know we haven’t had the best track record, but surely not all changes must be bad. Look at our last change! From that horrid facility to having our own bed! And a room with a door! And the only lock to our room was on the inside too! We’re in Eorzea now, and things are different here. They’re good. Just because we left a good place doesn’t mean where we end up will be bad. This will be better. I know it.”

When Emeline asked them to join her in the Shroud to gather reagents for various healing concoctions, Kayne readily volunteered. When she requested that the reagents be gathered without harming the creatures they came from, Kayne was happy to work on solutions to their issue, even if he was equally happy to let the others deal with the morbol. He protected Emeline from the morbol’s breath, and was quick to issue the order to retreat once they had what they needed. He was happy to pet the giant frog and to be slimed by it’s tongue while Ty collected it’s saliva. The group had preformed wonderfully, and the creatures were none the worse for wear from their treatment.

A/N: This story is not about Kayne. It follows the story of an alt I want to make at a later time.

The xaela woman sat in a waiting area outside the office of her captain. She summoned a thread of aether to dangle near the floor, letting her ruby carbuncle bat at it while they waited. She was nervous in a way that she hadn't been recently, her gaze constantly flicking up to the door and the desk where a secretary waited. The secretary, a plan looking midlander woman, was mostly ignoring her, having enough work of her own to complete. The xaela didn’t speak, and quickly hushed her carbuncle when it squeaked in annoyance as the aether thread went still. She started to wiggle it again as she thought. It wasn’t exactly uncommon for people to apply to leave the Grand Company, but still. This had been her home, the only kind one she could remember, and it was scary to think of leaving, but... She had other goals, things she needed to see, to remember, to find. She could only learn so much from the confines of the Company and she knew going out into the world would be the best for her. The door opened, and she jumped in her chair as another of her squad mates wandered out. The young male roe gave her a grin and a comforting pat as he continued on out of the office area. She tried to smile back, though the expression was forced and she quickly shifted her gaze back to the receptionist. The midlander placed a hand to her ear and muttered something low before nodding. She looked to the xaela with a kind smile.

One month ago

Kayne always had reservations about going along on these public facing mission with other groups. There was a level of pomp and ceremony and control involved that he didn’t particularly like. It was a show and he was no performer. Yet there was still pride in being trusted to keep the members of Aetherwatch safe in the field, especially with so many other groups being involved. Which is how he found himself in a medical clinic of a small town recently freed of Garlean oppression. 

His job was to protect Emeline and Jun while they checked in with the local doctor to see what aid the group could offer. Even better, Einarr was with them as well. It was comfortably easy to fall in with the hyur back into their old routine. They were on the same page as something triggered their danger sense, and were equally prepared to deal with whatever may happen. All in all, this was setting up to be a good time. Until one of the patents jumped Eme.

Kayne roamed the halls of the house, aimlessly exploring. He had heard of a room with a swimming pool and rumors of one only called ‘the cake room’. He hoped to find one, or some other unexplored room within the house as he wandered. In truth, he was bored. Things had been a bit slow for the Xaela’s liking. They had basically finished the job with the Sharlayan, the business with Arrow was on hold until an opportunity presented itself, and his primary goal was stuck behind political bullshite. So he had taken to entertaining himself by attempting to annoy whatever consciousness that made up The House into showing him something neat. The House was having none of it. Which is how Kayne found himself with a new bump on his head and one of Rosette’s more scandalous novels in his hand. Not knowing any better, Kayne cracked the book open and began to read.

A number of months ago

It was an average day for the people of Aetherwatch, which meant they were in the middle of a heated battle with a horror beast of unknown origin. It could have simply been a figment of their collective subconscious, brought on by the hallucinogenic flowers that littered the woods they found themselves in, or it could have been some science experiment gone wrong from the facility nearby. Either way, it was mad and they were fighting with everything they had.

It had managed to get a heavy hit off on Kayne, a unknown appendage slamming into him and slashing across his exposed arm. With the blood that dripped, Kayne felt the familiar roar of his rage build. His vision became tinted red and, without a second thought, he opened himself to the flood of power that rage brought, loosing all semblance of control of his own actions as he did. He knew he would fight the beast until it was dead or he dropped from exhaustion, and should he still be held by the power of his rage once it died, he might turn his strength on his allies. 

In the past, that possibility had been enough to give him pause, to have him fight the siren song of the power of his blood, of his soul, of that little cursed gem amplifying it all. He would hold his anger in until he could not anymore, the call, the need, the overwhelming power chipping away at his will and resolve until he could not fight it anymore. Until it was not his to direct and he could only pray that he would target the right thing in the feral state he ended up in. Eventually he would always loose that war of attrition. 

So he would let the power out in small, controllable bursts. And for a while that seemed to work. Until it didn’t. Until the lesser power that it granted him wasn’t enough. Until he lost something he could not afford to loose. Then he stopped fighting it. The power was needed and he needed to learn at least partial control. He could not keep fighting the war with himself, not if he wanted to keep those he cared for truly safe. So he made a compromise. What did it matter if he possibly harmed those he cared for if it meant they got to live? When he did harm them, the shame was horrible, but as long as they were alive to hate him for it, he could live with the shame, with their anger and distrust.