#ketsuchi

He realized when he reached the cave that the entrance wasn’t as narrow as he had thought from further away. While still barely wider then a person, he at least wouldn’t have to shimmy his way through it. He reached up with his right hand again, taking hold of the weapon on his back in order to keep it straight so that it wouldn’t bump against the walls as he walked inside. The cave felt longer then it was, but eventually it opened up into a wider cavern that gave him plenty of room to maneuver around. It didn’t take long for Ketsuchi to find what it was he was looking for.

In the wider portion of the cave there was a pack, materials to build a fire as well as a place that looked like it had already been used for those means, and a container that likely contained food of some sort. There was a bedroll, pillow, and a few whetstone lying nearby as well. This certainly seemed like a place someone had taken to living in if only temporarily. The Seeker looked up, noting the ceiling of the cave was open. He was able to look up at the grey, cloud covered sky without any obstruction.

“This must be the place…” He murmured to himself as he approached the camping supplies at the other side of the wide, open space. While there was always the likelihood these supplies had just been left behind, it seemed as if a fire had been burning here not all that long ago. The ground was still singed in places and the darkened area showed signs that something had been burning at least at some point in time. It was difficult to toss all his chips on the table for this wager, especially since it meant waiting even longer in the cold, but the Seeker decided that was what he had to do. So he would wait.

Ketsuchi made his way to the bedroll where he sat down and bent his knees up into his chest. He wrapped his arms around his legs and tried to keep them close to hold as much body heat as he could within his body. The cold was almost worse inside this place, but he had no choice but to endure it for a while longer. This was the only place he had been able to connect to the man he was searching for, making it the only thread he had to ensnare the person who had chosen to try to imitate the Seeker’s actions.

Time passed slowly. Ketsuchi didn’t know if it had been a bell or a sun by the time the silhouette of a man appeared at the entrance to the cave. He had nothing to think about other then the cold that he could shake. His eyes lifted slowly to the person walking toward him, settling on the black armor that adorned the man’s body. The Miqo’te could tell by the look it was made of darksteel, the very same as the armor he had used. There wasn’t a doubt that this was the man he was looking for.

The horned, black helm of the man recoiled as Ketsuchi got to his feet. He must have blended in enough that he hadn’t been seen from far away. The Seeker rose to his full height, staring with his mismatched eyes at the armor-clad man down the frozen tunnel. Nothing but the wind made a sound. Neither man seemed intent on breaking the silence...until the armor-clad one spoke up.

“Is that you, Demon?” The words were muffled by the helm and even with the raised voice, Ketsuchi was barely able to make them out. 

“Yes, it is. I assume you are the fake then. It takes a lot of courage to impersonate me like you have been doing.”

Ketsuchi’s response was yelled, a sound that carried up and out of the cave as well as toward the man who had reached the end of the tunnel. His heavy blade was visible now, as well as the tail that swung side to side behind him. The furry, blonde appendage gave away that he was a Miqo’te just like Ketsuchi. 

Silence once more hung in the air just like the cold. It lasted for a moment before the armored man started to emit a sound. At first, Ketsuchi didn’t realize what it was. It took a few more moments of the sound building before he could make it out. The man almost doubling over helped to give away what was happening: he was laughing. Ketsuchi let out a low growl, reaching up to grasp his own weapon with his right hand. 

“...What is so funny?”

The laughter continued until it came to an abrupt and sudden halt. The man straightened up, standing just slightly shorter then the actual Demon. He stood motionless, his head indicating he was likely staring at Ketsuchi. Much like the silence he had broken, it was a swift move that cut the tension between them. He drew his blade and bolted toward the man who had invaded his “home”. The sound of steel on steel reverberated around the cave as Ketsuchi brought out his own blade to block the attack.

“I have been waiting for so long! Finally. Finally I can slaughter you!” 

Ketsuchi clicked his tongue, his right hand holding the grip of his blade tight while his left braced the flat back side of it. He felt the blade being pushed back, the power of the armored man overwhelming his own bit by bit. The Seeker dug in his feet, shoving the other Miqo’te away before a flurry of blows was exchanged between the two.

The sound of metal against metal filled the cave. It carried on for quite some time before it finally grew quiet again. A brief break from the flurry of attacks left the two men several fulms from one another. Ketsuchi took the time to take stock of his opponent, something he hadn’t had a chance to do until now.

He wore heavy black armor, adorned with red straps that held the breastplate together. It had jagged points and edges to it. The helm had two large horns as well as the same jagged look. It was exactly the same as the armor he used to wear in his time in Ishgard. It was only now that Ketsuchi also realized something else: the man was uninjured. He hadn’t managed to land a single blow to his armor or the flesh that was beneath. 

In comparison the Seeker had taken several strikes. The light chainmail beneath his coats and hides hadn’t helped to protect him from the massive sword. A large wound, though shallow in depth, ran down his right side. A few shallow wounds adorned his arms while a deeper one had found its way into the inside of his left thigh. This wound was the one he could feel even through the numbness of the biting cold. His leg felt like it could buckle at any moment.

“Are you tired, Demon? Is this all you can do? I haven’t even begun to enjoy this yet!” The armored man spoke with an obvious tone of mockery. He had the upper hand and he knew it. The man grabbed his helm by the right horn, pulling it off his head to reveal the face beneath. His hair was long, blond, and obscured most of his face. He had to sweep it back over his head to reveal the eyes that made Ketsuchi swallow a snarl. The radiant, glowing, violet eyes that stared back at him were the same as his right eye.

“...So, you are just a monster as well, huh?” Ketsuchi straightened himself up, taking in a few deep breaths to steady his breathing before he spoke again. “What is it you want from me? You went through a great deal of work to get my attention after all.”

“What do I want from you?” The man let out another cackle, narrowing his eyes and smirking at the Demon. “Isn’t that obvious? I want to play with you for a while before I kill you. I thought that killing that woman of yours would be enough but you didn’t come running like I wanted. I knew you would come eve—“

“What did you say?” Ketsuchi’s voice had grown cold. There was nothing short of rage filling his words as his grip on his weapon tightened.

“You heard me. I killed Y’ashe. She came out here to find the person who was imitating you,” He made a grand gesture of pointing to himself, “me. She came alone, and I killed her. I had some fun with her first—“ 

Words were not what cut the man off this time but a torrent of violet levin. The storm flashed past him, striking him a few times and leaving pieces of his armor burnt. The maddening look on the man’s face twisted more and more as he let out another fit of laughter.

“There! Finally you resemble the Demon I wanted to kill so badly! I was worried you had forgotten how to truly fight!” The large blade raised to rest on the man’s shoulder as he bent his knees, eyes growing wide as the violet light grew brighter. “I’ve waited for so long to take your life from you! I’ll have my revenge at last!”

Ketsuchi could feel the warmth from his right eye. His aether was swirling inside him and finding every way it could to force itself out of his body. The glow in his eye was just the start as his anger built inside of him. Purple sparks leapt around his body here and there, the emotion getting the better of him.

“...So many people want to see what the Demon looks like. Everyone thinks they understand…” Ketsuchi lowered his head, looking down at the snow while his ears stood tall on his head. “...Very well. If that is what everyone wants, then that is what I’ll do. You took away the only thing I cared about in this world…”

The heat inside him was growing. The anger was building. He felt like his body was on fire, despite the frigid temperature. It took a single moment, just one final thought of letting go, before Ketsuchi launched himself forward. Once more steel slammed against steel, but this time it was the Demon who has the upper hand. Swing after swing connected with his opponents blade, pushing him back toward the wall of the cave. Soon there would be no more retreat, but it wasn’t fear that filled the man’s eyes, but the same look that now filled Ketsuchi’s.

Chaos.

Both men took enjoyment in the fighting, the Seeker’s opponent sending out a flurry of his own purple levin to push back the aggressor. The fight continued, both men trading attacks and strikes of aether until finally both men stood several fulms apart. Both were bloodied now, wounds covering either man’s body. It didn’t seem that one or the other had taken an advantage, and if nothing else, Ketsuchi had made up for the blows he had taken earlier on.

The two charged each other again, blades clashing. Ketsuchi drew back his left hand, aether gathering in his palm as a spear of lightning burst into existence. His opponent tried to take a step back, but it was too late. His foot slipped in the snow and the lance of levin drove itself through his right shoulder. A howl of pain filled the air as he dropped his blade to the ground before recoiling away from Ketsuchi. The Demon didn’t miss a step, striding forward and slamming the hilt of his blade against the man’s nose. A sickening crack came from the impact, followed by another howl of pain. He fell to the ground, and soon the Demon was on him. 

His weapon now abandoned, Ketsuchi drove his elbow into the man’s head, sending him down onto his back. The unarmored man set on top of his enemy, raining down punches to the man’s face. His gloves grew bloody as he continued to pummel the man.

“You wanted the Demon! Don’t give up now! Defend yourself! Make this fun!” Ketsuchi yelled out, laughter following his words. A dark, twisted, and depraved laughter. His opponent had managed to raise his left arm in an attempt to defend his face but it was pointless by now. The Demon had no intention of stopping until the man’s head was nothing but a crimson stain on the snow. It was only when the man stopped even trying to defend himself that Ketsuchi got back to his feet.

“Pathetic. Weak. Worthless. That is all your revenge is worth? That is all whatever I took from you meant?!” Ketsuchi’s right eye cast a brilliant purple glow on the blood-stained snow beneath him. The man didn’t move, but he made a sound. It was barely audible, but the Seeker caught it. A laugh that was almost entirely muted by the sound of the blood filling his throat. His face was a mess; he was barely recognizable anymore. His blond hair was the same shade of crimson as the snow beneath his head. 

“Death it is then. How dull. How boring. How pointless.” Ketsuchi grabbed his blade, hoisting it into the air as blood ran down his gloves and over the handle of his blade. His knuckles were just as much of a mess as the man he had pummeled, but they would hold for long enough to land one more strike. His hands gripped the handle tight, but before the blade could fall his ears stood straight up again. Behind him.

The Seeker tried to pivot, but it wasn’t fast enough. His exertion had left him too slow to react, and soon a spear of ice had found its way into the right side of his chest. The pain was immediate and immense. Ketsuchi fell to his knees, bloodied hands grasping for the ice once he had dropped his weapon to the side. 

“Quite a fitting end to your story, isn’t it Ketsuchi?” 

It was a woman’s voice. He didn’t recognize it, but as he lifted his head to stare at the person approaching him he was met with another pair of glowing eyes. These, however, glowed a brilliant blue. The woman grabbed the spear of ice and pulled it free, blood pouring from the open wound before she drew back the spear and struck it against the side of Ketsuchi’s head. He fell to his side, the world spinning as the pain and weakness made its way through his body. He couldn’t sit up. He couldn’t fight back. He couldn’t move.

“You had to know this would happen, Demon. People would gather together to bring you down. You have taken more than your share from us and had it not been for Kikusui we wouldn’t have found the power to stand against you. You had to take her from us as well though...didn’t you?”

Ketsuchi couldn’t make out her face. Darkness was closing in on his vision and what he could still make out was clouded at best. The woman squatted in front of him and pressed the bloodied ice against his forehead. All he could see was the blue light flooding out of her eyes. 

“This is what monsters like you get. You deserve to die and you know it.”

The Seeker couldn’t speak. He found it too much effort to even open up his mouth to make a sound. He felt cold. He felt weak. He felt…

Content.

The thought passed through his mind as his eyes finally shut. Sound faded away and the Seeker lay motionless on the ground as blood pooled beneath him. The woman straightened up from her crouched position, looking to the other man that Ketsuchi had been fighting with. There was no need to go check him; he made no movement and his eyes stared up at the grey sky. 

“The cold take you both.” She looked once more down at the Seeker with a mixture of emotions in her eyes. The light had faded from Ketsuchi’s as well as her own. It was the look on the Demon’s face that made the woman furious. A smile that was far from his usual sinister face graced his lips. He seemed happy. 

“I didn’t think this would feel...so hollow. I feel...nothing.” Her right hand lifted to rest over her heart, turning her head to stare up at the sky. “...This is the price I paid for this power then, is it?”

There was no point staying any longer. Her work was done, the revenge she wanted had been taken and at long last the allies she had made could all rejoice in their victory. Or, so she thought...if any of them still had the ability to rejoice over anything.

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OOC time! Did you really read all of it and get this far? You’re crazy. Well, this took ages to write. I found myself going in and out of my creative mindset, and it ended with the story being a bit disjointed since it took me probably 5 or 6 times sitting down to write it. I wanted to post it all the same as this is my “I’m on hiatus for a while” post. Lots of jobs to level, lots of Shadowbringers stuff to do, lots of...work just kicking my ass.

Some people may know this and some may not, but I have been struggling to write Kets for a while now. I feel like his character was at a point where I had nothing left to do with him. No, I’m not killing him off. I haven’t decided yet what I am going to do with him, but don’t worry, if anything I will be taking a break to try out a new character and I am sure I will move back to him in time. Or I’ll just wake up one day and go “yeah I like my piece of shit asshole” and just jump right back into things. Creativity is weird. 

The moon cast its pale light into the bedroom of the Lavender Beds estate that Ketsuchi owned. Despite it being well into the morning hours, the Seeker found himself unable to sleep for the third night in a row. The silence had long since been an ally of the man, but the last few nights it had been far from a friend. He stared up at the wooden ceiling with his mismatched colored eyes, unable to stare at the empty space beside him.

It had been more than a moon since he had last seen Y’ashe. It wasn’t uncommon for her to go off to tend to her own business, just as it wasn’t uncommon for him to do so. However, to be gone for so long without any form of communication was uncommon. In a way, he knew she would not come back. He didn’t know where she had gone, why she had gone, or how long she would be gone, but somehow as he laid in the dark he knew: she was gone for good.

The ticking sound he had heard the past three nights had grown louder, but despite looking for the source he could not find it. At first he thought it was the clock, but the ticking was rapid rather than in time with the movement of the large hand. He thought it could be a rat or other animal somewhere outside or within the floorboards. He never found one though, and the sound always seemed to move beyond his reach. Tonight he remained in the bed, listening to the ticking that sounded like a cannon going off in the otherwise silent room.

The Seeker was unsure of what to do. He felt suddenly alone, a sensation he hadn’t felt even when he had been alone. He had always known that Y’ashe would be home, or he would see her soon, but now that comfort was gone. He held his left hand up in front of his face, staring at the silver band on his ring finger. It wasn’t something he had ever been able to wear outside the home he shared with her, but here, even now, it made him smile. It was brief though, because soon the ticking sound had grown in volume again and drawn his attention away.

It persisted for a few moments before it grew quieter again, leaving the Miqo’te alone with his thoughts once more. What had happened? Why had she left? Had he become too much for her? Had she simply wished for something more than he could offer her? Or, had she merely fallen out of love with him?

Love.

Ketsuchi shifted his right hand to clutch tightly over the left portion of his chest. He felt the pain that came with loss, the pain that came with knowing he would likely never see the only person he had loved with all his heart again. It burned inside his chest, a pain he wished he could simply throw away. He felt his eyes begin to water before he shook his head and slammed his left hand down into the bed.

You are stronger than this.

He spoke to himself as he finally turned his head to look at the pillow beside him that was void of the pink-haired Miqo’te who would normally be present. The sight of the sheet pulled up over the pillow was more than he could handle and he quickly looked back to the ceiling, as if it could offer him some form of comfort. He had ran her off. Somehow, some way, he had made her leave. Just as he had done before.

Ketsuchi slowly sat up, his left hand holding onto his forehead as he let his head lull forward. He stared at the sheets she had picked out for them, in the room she had decorated, in the house she had chosen. Everything was a reminder of the woman, and every moment in the house made him feel as if his chest was being compressed by a pair of unseen, monstrous hands. It felt like his ribs were crushing his lungs, making it difficult for him to breathe. He couldn’t continue to stay here, not alone, not like this. However, he dreaded leaving only to find out she had come home when he wasn’t there.

A cloud made its way in front of the moon, taking away the only light that had illuminated the bedroom. Ketsuchi shifted his hand, feeling the cold silver of his ring against his flesh. A solemn reminder of what had been and what it seemed was no longer.

“...How did this happen?”

He spoke in a whisper and to no one but himself. It wasn’t as if the Seeker expected the room to answer him back. However, it seemed as if it almost may have: the ticking had grown louder again. Ketsuchi threw the sheet off him, standing up and feeling the cold wood beneath his feet. He made his way hastily across the room, throwing open the closet and looking inside. It wasn’t there.

Behind him, or so he thought. The Miqo’te snapped around, making his way back to the bed and looking under it. He couldn’t see much in the dark, but nothing seemed to move. The sound had moved once more behind him, causing the Seeker to snarl loudly. In the silence the sound pierced through the room like a siren. Ketsuchi returned to the closet, throwing aside dresses and jackets in a heap on the floor behind him. He had to find the damn sound before it drove him mad.

Ketsuchi paused with his hand on a well-made red dress Y’ashe had worn not too long ago. He could still picture her in it in his mind. The sight brought tears to his eyes again. The strong, independent Seeker could feel the emotions building up inside of him all over again. Pain. Loss. Loneliness. He closed his eyes tight, doing the only thing he could do to deal with the unfamiliar feeling: replace it with anger.

Ketsuchi grabbed for his left hand, yanking the ring off his finger and hurling it across the room with a loud yell of anguish. He heard it ricochet off a bookcase, landing somewhere in the corner of the dark room. The moon was beginning to show itself again, and soon Ketsuchi was able to see his arms in front of him as he stood panting heavily at the closet.

“Why did you leave? Why did you leave me all alone?! Why Y’ashe?!”

The proud Seeker collapsed to his knees, his hands clutching either side of his head as he struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to run down his cheeks. The ticking had increased in frequency, blending together into a sound that no longer resembled that of a clock. It was then that Ketsuchi realized exactly what it was. Now that he listened, now that he knew, it wasn’t a ticking at all…

It was the sound of nails scratching against something.

The sound was frantic, like a beast trying to claw its way out of a room. He slowly sat up on his knees, looking across the room that was once more filled with moonlight. The male stared at the empty bed where Y’ashe’s side was completely undisturbed. His side looked as if something had burst forth from it, which wasn’t far from the truth. The scratching continued, but there was no longer a need for Ketsuchi to seek it out. He felt his lips moving to make sense of the sound buried beneath the scratching. It was words, and as he allowed his mouth to move on its own he realized what the voice was saying.