A Merchant in the making

Q&A: Susuko Suko

Susuko sat in her Ishgard room, on her bed staring at the heater that flickered with a fiery blaze. The flames licked the air and crackled as the wood shifted and fell, throwing tiny sparks into her view, the sound of kids talking could be heard as faint echoes in her mind as they gathered around an open hearth. “Susuko...” A voice faintly called out, “Susuko...” The voice got louder, “Susuko!” Susuko jumped as a hand was placed on her shoulder, she looked to her right and saw a Hyur woman standing there, dressed in a long smock, a caretaker, “Susuko why not get closer to the fire? You look cold dear.” The woman said with a soft smile. Susuko made an ‘hmph’ noise as she looked away back towards to the hearth where all the other kids were sitting. 

Distant whispers could be heard past a near closed door, “None of her blood relatives will take her. If we can’t get any of them to take her then she’ll go into the orphanage.” Spoke one voice softly, while another retaliated, “I will continue trying, but when I mentioned who she was…that seemed to cause a lot of tension.” The two voices continued to converse as Susuko sat in a chair in a little empty room, clutching onto a small charred little doll that was pulled from the fiery remains of her home. “Did they ever find the bodies?” The same two voices were still conversing, “No, the Blades think they were burnt up, poor thing, for something to happen to one so young.” Susuko heard a chair move and footsteps approach from behind the door before it opened and she was staring up at a female Hyur. She gripped her doll harder, “Is Mama and Papa okay? Where are Mama and Papa?!” Susuko said with worry in her voice, the Hyur, kneeled down and patted Susuko on the head, “Sweet child…” the Hyur paused thinking about the words to use to explain to this poor and lonely child what had taken place, “They…t-they aren’t coming back. They are with Oschon now.” The Hyur’s hand patted the little Susuko’s knee as her eyes began to tear up, “I want Mama and papa back…I WANT MAMA AND PAPA BACK!” Tears ran down Susuko’s cheeks as she cried out, the Hyur wrapped her arms around Susuko holding her close, and spoke in a quiet and calm voice, “Shhh, mommy and daddy aren’t going to show sweetie.” Susuko cried into the Hyur’s shoulder eventually passing out. 

“It’s so cold…” Susuko shivered as she rubbed her gloved hands together and watched the smoke from her breath disappear against the sky. The streets of Ishgard were bustling as usual during the midday, noble Elezen walking from one shop to the next, “I do say, little one, what is it you are selling?” A tall Elezen man with white hair had approached Susuko’s booth of “Eastern” made blankets, he looked down at her with a ‘higher than thou’ look and adjusted his monocle. Susuko rolled her eyes in her mind before putting on a smile, “I’m selling blankets, made in the Eastern regions of the world! Not only will it keep you warm, but it is also a good conversation starter when your noble friends notice the exotic-ness of it during the get togethers.” Susuko pats one of her blankets that had been folded so the design on the blanket itself could be seen a bit; the Elezen seemed to take interest in her wares, probably only cause of hearing the word exotic. “One of a kind, handmade and I know this for I have witnessed it being made myself.” 

Susuko watched in amazement, her tiny eyes taking in the awesome sight of the fiend known as Bahamut as he broke free of his bindings, making her jump as the sound reached even as far as Ul’dah. A young Susuko unknowing of the disaster that is about to take place is enjoying the light show going on in the distance. Susuko’s father grabs her wrists, “Come Desert lily, we need to get inside where it is safe!” her father beckoned in a panic as he pulled her inside and shuts the door behind them, a few moments later a ginormous explosion happened and Susuko felt the ground tremble below her, scared about what was going on, everything suddenly seemed to be playing in slow motion as she watched her father shout something at her and suddenly…darkness. Susuko awoke to her father’s voice and the sound of rubble being moved, “SUSUKO! SUSUKO!” She saw her father and mother trying desperately to lift something before the awareness kicked in and she felt the heat that licked her face, realizing their house had been set aflame while she herself was trapped under a partial slab of ceiling. “Papa, it hurts.” She cried out as her father panicked struggling to lift the debris, “Don’t worry honey we’ll get you out of there. Just hold on.”  Her father and mother, after much struggling finally succeeded in helping Susuko out, but her father got himself injured in doing so, “Go Susuko…run outside to safety we’ll be right behind you… GO NOW!” Her mother yelled as she tended to her husband and in a panic, Susuko turned running out the door, she stopped and turned a few fulms out watching intently for her mother and father to exit. The pain of the burns were ignored, her heartbeat echoed in her ears  as she watched the door, eyes beginning to widen in fear and as she started to run forward back to the house, the rest of it collapsed inward. Little Susuko was alone as tears ran down her cheeks, she fell to her knees and a scream echoed with others into the Ul’dah night sky.