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Dirt and grass filled his mouth as he rolled to dodge the axe that was coming at his face. The Ixali that Kori had wandered across by accident surely did not like his presence at all. He pulled himself back to his feet and looked around himself. He had dropped his sword somewhere around here. Luckily, he still had his shield, and he lifted it up to deflect another axe swing that was aimed at him. He was gonna have to buff that out later, can’t let the unicorn stay damaged.
He ducked down to avoid the next swing and saw a glint in the distance. His sword! He bent low, putting power into his legs, and meant to sprint after the damn thing when the Ixali attacking him squealed and collapsed, a small dagger inbedded in its back. He was certain there was no one else this far into the forest and he definitely did not have his ninja gear with him today. So who?
“Looked like you needed a hand,” a playful voice called through the trees and Kori turned in the direction his sword was.
A small miqo’te woman, with violet short hair and a tail that was thick and luscious, bent down to retrieve his sword. Kori blinked at her, mouth gaping open. His mind was surely playing tricks on him. I mean he hadn’t seen her in years. Not since he left. Nah this had to be someone else who just happened to look exactly like his half-sister.
She walked over to him and held out his sword for him to grasp. Slowly, Kori took it and stood to his full height, which was only barely taller than her, and strapped the sword back to his belt.
“U’Shima?” he questioned, still not able to take his eyes off her.
“I go by Shima now,” she replied and rested her hands behind her head with a cocky smile.
“It’s really you, but wait, what about the village? What are you doing out here? We’re all the way past Gridania...how…,” Kori’s brain just could not catch up with all the facts that were before him.
This was definitely his little sister but she was supposed to be in Thanalan protecting their village and leaving out her dreams of being a huntress. Why was she all the way out here in the Shroud chasing down Ixali? Did something happen?
“Looking for you silly,” Shima said and she leaned forward to flick him on the forehead, “Stop thinking so much. You’re gonna get wrinkles.”
Kori rubbed at his head, bottom lip jutting, “I am not. How did you find me out here anyways?”
“Well after I left our village, I travelled to Ul’Dah where I met a fine young man with amazing hair who said he knew you. He told me you were in Limsa Lominsa so I hopped on a boat and headed there. Of course, you weren’t there. But I did run into a fellow named Captain Jacke and he taught me a few things. You know, I am a lot better huntress with a dagger than a bow. Who would have thought? Anyways I helped out the Nunnery for a while, gained their trust, and then Jacke told me someone had recently seen you in Gridania and now I’m here.”
“Wait, you met Jacke?!” Kori had to take a step back from the info bomb that Shima had just dropped on him, “And I’m guessing Thancred too. Oh by the gods, Shima that was so dangerous and reckless and-”
“You know Jacke told me stories of when you were part of the Sisters,” Shima cut off the beginnings of his scoldings with a wicked smile.
Kori bit his tongue and his ears flattened at her look, “What kind of things?”
“Oh you know, just how you sucked his dick on the table in the Nunnery while everyone was out on missions. The usual gossip,” Shima said with a shrug, that evil glint still in her eyes.
Kori could feel his blush reaching all the way down his chest. He cleared his throat before replying, “That is not something that a little sister should know about.”
“Oh hush,” Shima reached over and patted his shoulder, “It’s not like it’s anything new. You always did have a type. Pretend bad boy I like to call. I bet you hooked up with that other guy too know that I think about it, probably how he knew you.”
“I do not have a type.”
“You sure about that? Name one person you’ve shacked up with that isn’t like that.”
“I...I will have you know I am interested in someone right now who is nowhere near pretend or bad.”
Shima stopped teasing at that and her tail lifted in curiosity, “‘Interested?’ Not ‘sleeping with?’ Now that is new. You must be really serious about this guy. Tell me all about him.”
She seated herself on the grass, ears perked, tail flicking idely, ready for a long talk in the woods. Kori reached down and pulled her back to her feet with a huff before turning and heading back for the road.
“We are not having this conversation out here where you can be put into danger,” he said.
“Me? Seems like you were the one in trouble oh noble warrior of light,” Shima followed him arms crossed.
“You’ve heard about that?”
“Of course I’ve heard about it. Why do you think I’m here, dumbass?”
“You never did say. Why are you here?”
“You know, finding somewhere to talk sounds like a great idea all of a sudden.”
Kori shook his head but eventually led them out of the thickest part of the woods and back to the trail leading to Gridania where they could find a nice quiet place to catch up.
-
“So start from the beginning, why did you leave the village? I thought you loved it there?” Kori sat back in his chair at the Carline Canopy, swirling a drink in his hand.
“So start from the beginning, who is this guy you’re interested in and why does no one know him?” Shima leaned back as well mimicking his position.
“I asked first,” Kori said and drained his tankard, “Is mom okay?”
“Oh, the rogue Tia cares about his mother! That is a development,” Shima rested an elbow on the table instead and sighed, “She’s fine. Everyone is fine. I guess I just kind of got bored of the daily routines. You of all people should know how that feels.”
“That I can sympathize with,” Kori nodded for her to continue.
“An adventurer came into town one night and he tried smooshing me up. Didn’t get very far but while he was drunk off his ass he told me about this famous guy who’s been running around saving Eorzea and slaying primals. Some dude called the Warrior of Light. The guy was going off about how it wasn’t right for the savior to be a miqo’te and I left him at that. Turns out you can save someone’s life and they’ll still be racist, who knew?
Anyways, it took some time but I eventually started to piece together more information about this warrior and it became pretty obvious to me that this guy everyone talked about so reverently was my stupid older brother. So, I decided to follow in his footsteps. Packed up my things, left in the middle of the night, the whole nine yards. No one will miss me, they’ve got plenty of huntress to take care of the place.”
“And then you searched all of Eorzea, just to find me based off some rumor?” Kori was fairly impressed, he wasn’t going to lie.
It took a lot of guys to just up and leave the family like that, especially after years of being told that the hierarchy and standards there are the only way to live life. Rebellion must run in their blood line somewhere. Or perhaps it was Hydaelyn messing with him again?
“Well by the time I got to Ul’Dah, it wasn’t just a rumor anymore it was cold hard fact. You’re a legend U’Korih. I bet you’re feeling pretty smug about it too,” She said with a huge smile.
“Yeah well, it’s always nice to prove someone wrong. Especially the Nunh,” Kori replied.
“My brother the hero,” Shima was giving him the same look that everyone else did when they first found out who he was. Usually that look put him off a bit, cause he really wasn’t anyone important, but coming from her it just filled him with pride. He was able to impress one of the people in his life that he held dear and that was a good check box to mark.
“I bet I can still kick your ass,” she finished with a laugh and downed her own drink.
“You wanna have a go?” Kori leaned forward one head reaching for his sword, “I’ll take you on right now.”
Shima picked up one of the daggers attached at her waist, “If I win, you have to tell me about mystery boy.”
“What do I get out of it?”
“The satisfaction of finally being able to beat you little sister?”
“You’re on.”
Kori leapt out of his seat. Several minutes later, before either could even land a hit, the two of them found themselves being thrown out of the Canopy by a very grumpy roegadyn. They both fell into a fit of giggles and despite everything else, in that moment Kori was just happy to be a child once more. Of course, later that day, back at the free company house, Kori could have won the fight no problem but he threw it on purpose to preserve Shima’s ego. That’s exactly what happened. Definitely.