━ Yargui Tumet ━

I am the misery you crave

a thorn in your side

Final Fantasy XIV / GMT or BST

appearance
Outside of the Osen, the Xaela is rarely seen without a face covering – or rather, rarely seen at all.However, if you're lucky enough to catch her inside, her hair is sometimes unpinned – the sleek black tresses neatly brushed down to her lower back, paired with a blunt fringe always cut just above her brows. Dark scales reflect with a slight crimson hue, stark against her porcelain complexion. Veiled by heavy lashes, her piercing eyes are ever observing and peeking where they perhaps shan't.She is far from petite. Her legs accentuated by the pair of tall clogs in her possession, cloaked by the length of her kimono always a little too loose around the shoulders. Scaled talons always seen in pristine condition. Beneath the looseness of her clothes her physique is trim and well looked after, save for the scars and blemishes of her trade.Alluring and unruly in her own way, her demeanour is often hidden behind the curl of smoke escaping from a pipe often balanced between her fingers.personality
Yargui speaks rarely, but when she does, her words offer little to unravel. Whether it is a mask she chooses to wear or simply a reflection of the Xaela’s inner quiet, none can say. Her speech is blunt and direct, sparing no one the edge of her honesty.One of the times she is compelled to speak is for her dubious trade, forced to bat her lashes and dimple her cheeks with a smile, all before ...

Final Fantasy XIV / GMT or BST

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Final Fantasy XIV / GMT or BST

━ My Heart ━

1

♪

It was rare for the Xaela to take respite, however after the near end of the Star and life of her newfound best friend, it was needed – even if it was to be short lived with skeletons already rattling behind closet doors; it could wait a moment longer.

By the time she had returned to Kugane, the sky was smothered in a blanket of night with only a hint of starlight creeping through the smog of city lights. The hour was past midnight, the heart of the city still thrummed with the sound of life but it was soon drowned out by the eerie drawl of the outskirts – people littered few and far between; drowsy drunkards and shady individuals lingering in the back alleys.

Familiar, far too familiar.

The smell of alcohol, copper and urine was pungent in certain corners, burning through the mask adorning Yargui’s features – the smell so vulgar you could taste it. Her footsteps were calculated and silent, body a silhouette amidst the dull orange haze of light sneaking through window cracks and under doorways.

She blended in with the violent and beaten that crept the paths – the mud of blood and ichor stained her garb and exposed flesh as if she were a scarred canvas of battle. Though her wounds were healed, the rip and tear of her garb hinted at what had been. The Xaela knew how to walk these streets after so many years, knew the twists and turns that would deliver her to her heart.

The gentle song of a windchime vibrated through her onyx horns before she turned the final corner, settling her eyes on a swaying signpost positioned above one of the conjoined buildings hidden amidst the maze of alleys – Shirokawa Soba.

Familiar, but it was a welcomed familiarity.

Yargui stopped just outside of the unlit restaurant – small, blue curtains hanging above the entrance dancing with the wind, each panel written with white scripture illuminated by the distant lanterns reading the very same name engraved on the signpost above in the Hingashi alphabet. Warmth blossomed deep inside her chest, the pulse of her heart fluttering.

It was far beyond closing hours, she knew that, but here she stood – waiting. Craning her head back, her ruby eyes settled on the second floor that stood above the restaurant. The light was dim, but it was enough. It was like a beating heart calling out to her, a candlelight licking at the stagnant air deep inside of the windowed room – it was enough.

Swoosh.

Her body vanished in a mist of black only to reappear atop the narrow and claustrophobic balcony; her feet silent as they planted themselves. These alleyways were narrow, the buildings built to shadow over each other – the balconies were nothing more than a lip of wood with a railing to lean against when windowed panels were slid open, staring out at stone walls. Yet without the opening, the Shinobi had to perch like a cat atop the railing.

The feeling in her chest tightened as her eyes focused on the gap of the panel that sat slightly ajar – it was a slither, but a slither was enough for an intruder to break in, she thought. Her brow twitched upon her forehead, eyes narrowing as she curled her fingers around the opening – her breath hitched.

'What if… what if someone did break in?'

Dread. The cold whisper of dread travelled through her fingertips and across the rest of her body as soon as she began to slide the opening wider. The sound of wood sliding against wood was painfully slow, antagonising her mind as it raced with horrors. She was absent long enough for… no, no, no… The colour from her features drained as her eyes widened.

It was a small room, one that she knew – but it was no longer in the comforting state it once was. The white futon lay sprawled across the floor, tossed amongst scattered amenities. The chair that sat in the far corner beside a dresser lay toppled over, thrown amongst the rest. Water dribbles over the edge of the table from a disturbed glass, dampening the tatami flooring beneath. Paintings and drawings lopsided on the walls as if something was thrown into them.

Dread.

Yargui leaps from the railing, her feet touching the floor with a silent kiss of contact. Claws sank into her palms as her hands balled at her sides, trembling. The crimson hue of her eyes illuminated in the dark as they pivoted across every disturbed item until they settled on the dim glow of yellow, the glow of candlelight nestled atop a side table that promised her presence. Promised her, her heart.

The weight of it made her knees buckle, collapsing with a thud while her arms fell limp at her sides; knuckles bleeding white. Her shoulders shuddered as her breath hitched again, the lump in her throat forcing her to choke. She was never really afraid of death, she chased it everyday – but she was afraid of losing her closest to it. The loneliness it would leave her with, loneliness that would return to her far harsher than it did once before.

Trust was never an easy gift for the Xaela to give, it was something she buried and protected like a rose in a garden of thorns. But those thorns separated for one, the barbed stems parted like waves for one. One whom bore oceans in her eyes, one whom spoke with a gentle voice that could lull her to sleep, one whom held her heart.

Anxiety rippled through her chest, an iron claw clamping her heart and squeezing it. Did her worst fears come true? Did the man that took her life away finally take her heart, too? Was she gone for that long?

Shuffle.

In less than a blink of an eye, the Shinobi swivelled on her knees without as much of a second thought, launching herself towards the sound with a blade dripping in black shadows that materialised in her grasp as if it was a mere extension of her limb. Her arm crashed against a throat, slamming herself forwards to trap the intruder against wooden walls that trembled under pressure. It was deathly silent save for the sound of trembling breaths, the tension thick.

Yet as her inflamed eyes began to take in the shape before her, the fire slowly ebbed away, extinguished by the tears that began to slip. Her mask quivered as her lips did behind it, hot breath catching in her throat as beautiful blue eyes stared back at her – wide, starry and glassy.

“Cho?” Yargui’s voice was a strangled whisper, her blade pressed so close to the woman's throat that a droplet of blood wept down her throat. Her fingers twitched around the handle of her blade, loosening her grip until it dropped into a pool of mist at their feet; soundless. “Cho… Cho,” the very same hand that threatened her life trembled as it cupped her cheek.

The Xaela could feel Cho’s heart pounding against her chest as her arm slipped from her collarbones, releasing her hold only to settle her palm above her heart. The blue-eyed Raen stood scarily still, windows to her soul fear stricken yet relieved all the same – her lower lip wobbled as tears spilled over the balls of her cheeks, “I thought you dead,” she uttered in a hushed voice; afraid her breath might just blow Yargui out of existence.

“I thought… I thought y-you–... And… I thought–” Yargui’s words were a mess, a tumble of unfinished sentences and questions until the Raen finally cradled her head in her hands to silence her, thumbs hooking underneath the Shinobi’s mask to pull it away from her face entirely; discarded to the floor.

“I’m here, I’m here…” Cho shushed the crumbling woman standing in front of her before she could unravel further into panic, a hand still cradling her face while the pads of her fingers began to rid the tears streaming down her flushed cheeks, “I’m right here.” Although she was a fraction smaller than Yargui, she found herself towering over her as the Xaela crashed against her to bury her head into the crane of her neck.

Their bodies slowly slid down the wall supporting them until they sat entangled on the floor, Cho’s arms wrapping around Yargui to pull her closer, cheek resting atop her head as her own tears continued to dribble over the bridge of her nose. The silence that fell between them was not unfamiliar, it was comfortable. It lasted an hour – maybe less, maybe more.

“I should be the one comforting you,” Yargui finally spoke, her face still buried into the crook of Cho’s neck; breathing in her sweet scent. Their fingers were laced, tangled together and pulled into her chest.

Cho remained silent save for a quiet sniffle, her free hand brushing through the Xaela’s long locks with content. “Having you here is comfort enough,” her gentle voice retorted, her lips soon pressing a kiss into the crown of her head with closed eyes, “I knew you would come back to me…” she whispered, “I left the window open for you.”

Yargui shuffled, finally lifting her head to look into her eyes, “I’ve told you time and time again to keep it locked, especially at night,” her voice that usually held little to no emotion suddenly became heavy with it. Her crimson eyes carefully brushed over the mess that surrounded them, “What happened?”

Silence filled the air again, but it was short – ocean eyes pivoted towards the mess, eyelids heavy, “I… couldn’t find it,” she uttered, lips drawn downwards as her teeth gnawed at the inside of her cheek, “I thought it was gone,” slowly her hand unravelled from the Shinobi’s hair only to settle on her own chestbone, fingertips brushing over a pendant that sat above her collarbones, “But it was right where I left it…”

It wasn’t really a pendant but rather a seashell pulled from the ocean floor, small and weathered by the crash of waves. It was a gift; a promise. Yargui’s fingers brushed over it, giving the Raen a look that asked an unspoken question.

“I had never taken it off to begin with,” Cho breathed, her hand once more brushing through the Shinobi’s dark hair and tucking it behind her horn. “I must have… drifted off here,” she gestures to the very corner they sit, a pillow beneath them and crushed up behind her. Yargui could tell from the swell of her eyes and the dark circles shadowing them how much worry she carried; how much it had exhausted her.

The Shinobi could let her metaphorical mask shatter here – within these walls, within these arms. The corners of her lips lifted only to waver, only just noticing the dried bead of blood smeared across Cho’s tanned skin, “I hurt you,” she whispered, wiping the spot with a careful thumb, “I didn't mean–... I thought…”

Before the Xaela could go on, Cho hushed her again with a soft shake of her head, “It doesn’t hurt,” a lie, “It was a pinch,” it was a puncture. Yargui was just about to argue before she was interrupted again, “I know…” the Raen whispers, tracing her thumb over the Shinobi’s cheek to rid a teardrop, “but he didn’t, did he?”

‘He didn’t…’

Those words echoed through Yargui’s mind, brows furrowing across her forehead while her eyes squeeze shut, “But he could have.”

“He didn’t.”

The silence is heavier this time; tense. Yargui’s fingers curled around Cho’s shoulders, her claws careful not to puncture. So many words swirled around her head but nothing fell from her lips, her mouth parting and inhaling only for words to fall stagnant. Instead, she nodded – a forced motion of her head.

Cho watched the discourse flex across her companions' features – the twitch of her brows, the fold of her lips, the bob of her throat. She knew the demons that she carried, she knew of their names. Nightmares that plagued her mind both in slumber and in the waking world. There was a threat, but the threat was not here; not right now. And perhaps it never will be, not if they remained careful.

Finally, the Raen acknowledged the blood that coated Yargui’s body – having not registered it until now, “Are… you hurt?”

The question was enough to pull her out of her thoughts – a heavy lidded gaze falling upon Cho followed by a shake of her head, “Healed, likely scarred, but healed.”

With a gentle nudge, the brunette attempts to push Yargui off only to guide her to her feet, “I’ll run a warm bath,” she starts, fingers squeezing the others hand before heading towards the bathroom, “Zorig is downstairs, he has not left the same spot since he delivered your letter.”

The letter – the one that Yargui had her canine friend deliver before stepping into that Abyssal Mouth. A drabble of words that was nothing short of a goodbye, a warning that perhaps she would not return, that perhaps her and EWET would be gone from this world without a memory to spare them – but it was also a confession, a frantic sprawl of words that confessed that she was her heart.

Her cheeks felt hot.

They rarely exchanged words, especially words that held such weight; such feeling – their bond was often silent, but it was comfortable. Perhaps that would change now… Yargui had faced a greater threat to this Star than she had ever imagined possible. The threat of being lost to The Grey; forgotten. “I meant it,” she whispered, not daring to turn and face the Raen.

Squeak.

The turn of a faucet followed by the fall of water came from behind, gentle footsteps thumping light against the tatami floor below. The Shinobi knew Cho stood behind her by mere abilities alone, but she could also feel her warmth. Hands carefully snaked around Yargui's waist, the touch delicate as if handling fine china.

Cho’s breath was hot against the nape of her neck that remained curtained by long, black tresses. She stretches enough to settle her chin atop the Xaela’s shoulder; their horns grazing. Both their eyes stared out of the open window that faced ugly buildings, but neither cared for the view it beheld. It was soothing to hear the sound of running water, Yargui thought, but not as soothing as it was to be embraced like this.

Their shared silence lasted long enough for the former conversation to be set aside but never forgotten, yet the whisper that crept across her horns caught Yargui off guard.

“And I love you, too…” Cho’s arms hooked tighter to squeeze the Xaela only to loosen entirely, turning to resume her prior task by preparing bath salts and scents.

The smile that tip-toed across Yargui’s lips felt foreign, but she welcomed it.

She welcomed all of it…

this section is for boundaries, ooc information & the rest

rules
• I'm 21+ and prefer to only mix with people that are the same.
• I do not mix IC and OOC – I have no interest in character drama becoming real drama; we're essentially playing with dolls, not real life.
• Communication is very important to me – if something is wrong, please tell me!

themes
I enjoy in depth storylines with the potential of character growth and long lasting outcomes – most themes are welcome, including dark and mature themes. I am strictly lore-friendly and open to low, medium and high fantasy settings.

history
I’ve been roleplaying for several years and always enjoy meeting new roleplay friends — I like to think I’m very friendly and approachable! I’m flexible with stories and happy writing in both long-form and short-form. I understand there’s a time and place for both the serious, dramatic moments and the more relaxed, light-hearted fun.We all roleplay to have fun and to be creative – I am not looking for drama.

contact
You can find me on Twitter.

reworked by tali
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