#kerice things

Kerice and Erwin's first meeting could have gone significantly better. It certainly didn't help that he was a male Viera, the second of which she had ever encountered (and Ashe, being the first, a VERY bad experience). She was angry and a spitfire but Erwin, having worked with a variety of other recruits and having gone through is own brand of trauma, quickly reminded her of her place and how the military, especially on the field, was far more difficult and dangerous with a person with her attitude. While she greatly disliked him due to a bunch of factors, she reeled herself in and showed him some manner of respect after he made her position incredibly clear to her. One thing he drilled into her quickly was that he would never leave anyone behind.

She was going to hold him to that.

It wasn't long after that they would be sharing her first mission.

Said mission couldn't have gone more horribly. All but one other member of the squad (Nayela) were summarily wiped out by Gyr Abania resistance fighters. having to choose between her life, her promise to Erwin to not leave anyone behind, and death, she chose the former and clawed her way out of the pit with her and Nayela in tact.

Kerice's respect and trust in Erwin would grow over time slowly, the two bonding over shared trauma, history, interests and humor though one thing was always a sticking point. Erwin was a proud Garlean solider who believed himself above the 'savages' and Kerice an unwilling participant in the horrors of war who loathed the Empire and everything it had taken from her.

Despite their fundamental disagreements, Erwin was still willing to listen to Kerice and gave her a space to vent about her frustrations and dislike of the Garlean Empire without fear of being gunned down.

Kerice returned that kindness tenfold when Erwin was captured during a routine mission. While the higher ups had decided to cast him away, she fought for him to make the higher ups realize how important he was, not just to the cause, but to the squad, highlighting that he was useful and such a person should not be so easily discarded. The higher ups conceded but provided Kerice and her squad with the bare essentials for the mission. They succeeded anyways.

While Kerice never openly spoke about her involvement in champion Erwin's rescue, the rest of the squad made sure that Erwin knew just how hard she had fought, both with the higher ups, and on the field to bring him home. He had always saw that she had survived and he kept his promise time and time again not to leave anyone behind. She wasn't about to turn her back on him.

Kerice has had an especially hard life in FF14. She lost both her parents during the invasion of Rabinastre (her mother was a guard/soldier and her father owned a fabric shop). Her family friend, and God-father, Drezdyn, took her in after hearing about the family's death (finding a very young Kerice hiding in a laundry basket).

She didn't have any other relatives or family friends to take care of her and Drezdyn, having a soft spot for the child, took her in. During his earlier years he was a Bozjan resistance leader who were branded terrorists by the Empire. His small group bombed an Imperial caravan that resulted in the death of two nobles, a father and son. His entire faction was wiped out and Drezdyn fled Bozja out of fear for his life.

The widow of the two nobles had it out for Drezdyn. It wasn't long after the attack on the city and his adoption of Kerice that they were started to move around. Bounty hunters had been sent to capture and bring him back to Garlemald if possible, alive preferably.

During this time, Kerice grew up with a stern yet loving father figure who did his best to support the two of them. Because of the constant moving from place to place, the two lived in relative poverty, making due with what food they could hunt and small odd jobs in the villages and cities they visited. Despite being a female Viera, Kerice grew up malnourished and this stunted her growth until she was better able to learn and help hunt with her adoptive father. She learned how to identify all manner of plants in the different areas of Eorzea, how to make small salves and poultices, how to hunt, fish, trap, hide and survive in the various climes they travelled through.

Eventually the two settled on the outskirts of Coerthas near Mor Dhona. Drezdyn found steady work assisting the local Ishgardians while Kerice was tasked with maintaining their small cabin in the woods, hunting, trapping and negotiating with the locals for supplies they could not otherwise get. It was a simple, hard life, but it was good.

Kerice had shown an early knack for the bow and alchemy. She also finally learned how to properly write at about age 10 (she could read prior to that because Drezdyn would teach her but they never had the ability to sit down and properly write).

As she got older, Drezdyn began to teach Kerice how to use a Gunblade. He wanted her to be able to protect herself, especially in close combat.

At about 18 years old the Battle of Silvertear Lake happened and Drezdyn's involvement drew the attention of the bounty hunters. It didn't take long for them to track down the two living out in Coerthas. Kerice was approached by a male Viera by the name of Ashe who was around the same age as her. They hit it off while Drezdyn was away and, not knowing any better, brought him back to her home to introduce him. She was unceremoniously captured and held hostage in the building while the bounty hunters waited for Drezdyn to return.

Drezdyn did return and, under threat of Kerice's life, surrendered himself to capture.

The bounty hunters escorted Kerice and Drezdyn back to Garlemald. As soon as they arrived, the two were separated. Kerice was sold into the Garlean military and Drezdyn was later executed.

Kerice's time in the military was filled with bigotry and anger. She was a hostile force in the training camp while being, by far, one of the most versed in the use of a Gunblade and long ranged sniping weaponry (from her years of practice with hunting with a bow and practicing the Gunblade with her father). She caused fights that got her reprimanded and beaten. The most severe was when she attempted to escape from the military training camp once she learned Drezdyn had been murdered. Instead of being killed, she was made an example of. Latched to a wooden pole outside in the snow, shirt removed, she received several (upwards of 10) lashes that scarred her back. She was left to freeze and bleed out. Those who thought to take pity and help her was strictly prohibited by way of suffering the same punishment.