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Chapter Text

"You look positively charming, Auvo!" Tataru complimented as he (finally) excused himself from the dance floor.

It was an effort to keep his ears looking relaxed, instead of either alert or stressed. They did dip briefly at Tataru's comment, though. Charming wasn't something he was. Phi was charming. Sweet and good at talking to people. Auvo was rough around all the edges. This wasn't the life he'd been raised for.

"'m... trying," he finally settled on.

"I'm sure Aelyria appreciates the effort," the Lalafell said gracefully.

He'd usually tried to weasel out of fancy parties like this, but this was for Aely. She deserved it, and she deserved to have friends here, given the way all the Ishgardians treated her thus far. Plus, she'd already taken the time to teach him a very basic dance that had been incredibly helpful in not making more enemies in the nobility.

After the very successful trial by combat and subsequent summons from the archbishop, it seemed high society was trying to get on their good side for once. Well...all the Lights except Aely.

Auvo glanced around until he spotted her over by the tables. Haurchefant was telling some tale to the seated guests, making grand gestures with his arms as he did so. She laughed at something he said, and her fancy dress spun as he lifted her for something.

They looked like they fit here. Aely with her dress and impeccable manners and sharp wits, and Haurchefant with his ease amongst people and shiny armor and joy. And yet, Ishgard accepted neither of them for the crime of being born wrong. Aely often tried to cover her horns and scales in the city, but still the insults were hurled at her. Haurchefant tried so hard to be a good son, a good knight, but it amounted to naught for the nobles. Auvo didn't understand.

Seeing the two together, though, those problems seemed to melt off them. They were both happy, and they looked like they belonged. Heads high and backs straight, like they could lead Ishgard together. There was a word for that, he thought, in Common. Regal. They looked regal together.

"'s good," Auvo told Tataru. "She's worth it."

Chapter Text

Money was mostly a foreign concept to Auvo. It hadn't been used in the Wood, the different villages mostly relied on trade, and it certainly wasn't used between Viera men. He'd watched Honey use it in Kugane, and theoretically knew that it was a stand-in for actual goods, but the small sack of gil she'd handed him when she sent him off to Eorzea just sat in his bag. The little metal rounds were heavy, and the ones with bigger numbers inscribed were heavier. Honestly, he thought the whole thing overly complicated but necessary. He could get most things he needed on his own, but there were things, like metal tools, that he couldn't. He'd usually just dump however much gil he had on someone when he needed something.

Unfortunately, this did not sit well with Tataru.

"You spent how much on that knife?!" she demanded when he asked for additional funds for a skillet to go with it.

"...dunno. Bag was this full," Auvo said, pinching his coin purse about a third of the way up. "She seemed happy, figured it was enough."

"That was way too much! Even if it was all ones, and I know how much we pay you."

Auvo and Phi hadn't been with the Scions very long, but the pay stipend was one of the more annoying aspects in his mind. Gil was heavy, and Rona gave him the saddest look whenever he added the heavy coin purse to her saddlebag. He was constantly trying his hardest to get rid of it.

"I swear, I'm going to have to assign one of the other three as treasurer, you go through gil so fast. Maybe Aelyria? She seems responsible...Nea's very smart..."

Auvo pouted, but didn't argue it. If he didn't have to carry it that was fine with him.

Chapter Text

The small fire crackled in the yard. It was still just a flat square of grass, Aely was going to put in a garden eventually so Auvo wasn't too worried about burning it. He'd soaked the ground around the pit just in case. Nea had made marshmallows, some sort of merengue with a flower extract. More alchemy than cooking. They crisped up very nicely over the fire, though, and were excellent all melty and squished between a couple of cookies. Maybe next time he should make chocolate for it.

The lack of trees in the yard so far meant that on a warm, clear night like tonight, the view of the sky was excellent. Maybe not as bright or open as Thanalan, but breathtaking nonetheless. The fire was dying down, and the other Lights were all drifting off to sleep.

With a brilliant flash of light, a star streaked across the sky.

Nea sat up almost as fast as the star disappeared.

"I want to dissect one of Nidhogg's eyes!"

"Wh...what?" Aely questioned.

"My wish. I want to dissect one of Nidhogg's eyes. Think about it, if we could figure out how they store so much aether we wouldn't be reliant on white auracite to deal with Ascians!"

Nea...had a point, but Auvo thought messing with the Eyes was a bad idea. Estinien had failed to control them twice, and both times had dire consequences. They were better off lost forever.

"... maybe, I'd also wish for a happier future. What about you? What are your wishes for the star?"

"'s that a thing? Wishing on falling stars?" Auvo asked.

"Sure," Phi answered. "And first stars, and dandelions, all sorts of things! I'd wish for a boyfriend!"

Nea laughed, and Auvo rolled over so he could see the other three better.

"That's it? You're the Warrior of Light, Savior of the Realm, it can't be that hard!"

Phi pouted. "Tha's not what I mean. I wanna be loved. For me, not 'cause I'm a hero. I wanna find love...but..."

Phi glanced around, settling on Aely for a moment.

"... nevermind. That's it."

I love you, Auvo thought, but he knew that wasn't what Phi meant.

For a moment, they all just watched the fire quietly.

"I'm with Nea," Aely finally said.

"Yes! Eye dissection!"

Aely giggled again. "No, about wanting a happier future. This last year has been..."

This year had been awful. Losing Raha, losing the Scions, losing Haurchefant...and so much worse on Aely.

"...I don't want any of us to go through that again. I wish for better things," she said.

"What about you, Auvo?" Phi asked.

Auvo started at the flames for a moment. He wished, more than anything, to be allowed to go home. Except...he wasn't so sure about that anymore. Going home would mean never coming back. He'd seen so many amazing places, met so many people, he wasn't sure he could give that up now. He also knew just how big the world was, there was so much he hadn't seen yet. His heart still ached for the Wood, for his mother and kit-siblings, but would it not also ache for Phi, Aely, and Nea? Would he not miss the Twins, the other scions, the Thanalan night sky?

"...dunno," he finally said.

"We all said ours, Auvo, c'mon!" Nea pressed.

"Maybe...wish things were less complicated," Auvo said. "Wish I could say things like wishes without having to think about everything else stuck to that. World only gets more complicated, though."

"Hear hear," Aely echoed from across the fire.

Auvo settled back on his side to try to sleep again. What did he really wish? He wasn't sure.

Chapter Text

It'd been tense since the red moon vanished and the Mist changed. Auvo and Rael had been on the move for a week now, trying to assess the changes and reach some location the older Viera was worried about. Some forbidden place the shift in the Mist was like to make more dangerous.

Much to Auvo's delight, he was no longer required to eat his kills. He still had to dress them and preserve the meat, but the little coeurl cub was happy to have an easy source of food, and as long as he used all of the animal for something Rael was okay with it. She was still biting him frequently, though. She got no treats when she did.

Right now, she was sleeping in the basket that Auvo had lined with down feathers and Auvo was stroking her head while he waited for Rael to return from patrol.  He'd usually take Auvo with him, as it was good practice, but they were near their destination and the older man deemed it too risky.

It was quiet. At least, the animals and insects were quieter than they should have been. It'd been like that since the moon vanished. Animals were quieter, and the Mist was louder. Rael said the world was still adjusting, and once it was settled, the animals would be active again. It was still eerie.

Rona still nursed in her sleep sometimes, and Auvo found himself smiling at the sound.

He heard the dark getting louder before he heard the wingbeats. He was up in an instant, spear in hand. It sounded like a large bat, if the Mist weren't so off. It was so, so incredibly dark. Through the trees, the moonlight caught the shape of something large and round bouncing through the air on wings. Auvo was ready for a giant fat bat, or a strange bird.

He wasn't ready for a flying, screeching eyeball. For that's all the beast's body was; an eyeball with tiny arms and legs and massive leathery wings. Its Mist was wrong. He could hear it, and it made his blood run cold. He froze. He couldn't seem to look away as the eyeball-bat flew slowly closer. Its eye, its awful red-yellow bloodshot eye was transfixed on him and he was terrified. This...thing, was evil, he knew it.

Rona sat up in her basket and yowled at the interruption to her nap. It was startling enough that Auvo looked away, and suddenly found he could move again. Good thing too, as the monster was nearly on top of him.he rolled forward, under its dangling limbs, and stabbed it in the back with his spear. The thing screeched again and turned, and Auvo was once again caught in its gaze. He saw it grab something out of the corner of his eye, but he could not move. Couldn't look away, even as the stone smashed into his shoulder. It flew close again, and Auvo could see its large, sharp-toothed maw open wide a moment before an arrow embedded itself in the monster's eye. Auvo scrambled back, kept his gaze decidedly on the eyeball's legs, and threw his spear as hard as he could.

"Silence her before she draws more!" Rael called from above him.

Ah, Rona was still throwing a fit. He walked over and put a hand in to pick her up, only for the cub to sink her teeth into his hand. His breath caught. Yes, she was small, but he'd swear Rona's bites hurt more than the rock that'd just hit him. She tossed her head, further ripping in, and Auvo chanced a glance back at the monster that was chasing Rael through the trees. It continued to screech, and as long as Rona was using him as a chew toy she wasn't making enough noise to draw extra attention. Auvo sighed and grabbed the cub with his free hand and lifted her into his lap.

"If you aren't quiet something's going to eat you before you get big," he said as if she could understand.

He scratched under her chin, a trick he'd found while stranded up the tree by her mother, and the cub started to calm down until she finally released his hand. Four little punctures dribbled blood that she tried to lick up, but Auvo held her head away. Rael said that was not to be tolerated, because her tongue would have spines later.

He really hoped all this trouble would be worth it.

It took Rael until the moon was nearly halfway up the sky to return. He seemed to be just fine.

"When we see more tomorrow, you must not look them in the eye," he instructed.

"What was it?" Auvo asked.

"A demon. It is evil, and we must not allow such things within the Wood."

Auvo could feel that, could hear it. He nodded, unsettled by the fact that they'd be facing more the next day.

Rona nudged his hand when he stopped scratching her.

Well, tomorrow's danger was for tomorrow. He still had to deal with tonight.

Chapter Text

Auvo looked over the pots with Phi. The Miqo'te had wanted to 'spice up his wardrobe', and Auvo needed to pick up a new spearhead so they'd both headed down to the Shaded Bower. Phi had picked over the jeweler's wares, and Auvo found his replacement easily enough, but they both lingered at the tinker's stall longer than expected. The Highlander (Auvo had forgotten his name. Something with an A?) didn't seem to mind, it was a slow morning and slow customers were better than none.

Phi was dipping a pinky into the open jars and rubbing strips along the back of his arm, mostly in the pinks. A few strips of blue and brown, but mostly pink.

"Ya've got a green thing going on, right? Which greens do you use?" he asked.

Auvo looked over the pots. He hadn't bought pre-made dyes often. Usually he'd just make do with what he could find, resulting in a lot of greens and browns. Actually getting to decide on a color beforehand... could be nice. That said, Auvo liked green.He had picked his name because he loved the colors of the Wood. (He hadn't known, at the time, that it was also a kind of tree.)

His fingers ghosted over the dyes. Some he could rule out easily—bright colors and special sheens would be hard to hunt in, which...left him back with his usual muted greens and browns. He looked at a pitch black for a moment, but the price tag on that one was much higher than the standard wares. Better to avoid that.

He remembered being a kit, when his mother would dye whole cauldrons of yarn at a time so her weaving would have uniform colors. The smells of the herbs boiling for hours to stain the fibers, the songs she hummed as she stirred the pot.

That was why he was Evergreen. He couldn't let that time go. City names were supposed to represent leaving that life behind, but how could he? His mother, his friends, he never chose to leave them behind. He carried them in his name.

Auvo grabbed a pot on the darker side. Not as dark as his hair, but not as vibrant either. It was muted, softened. Easy to hide in.

"Nophica green? Do ya follow Her?" Phi asked.

Auvo shook his head. "Don't belong to the Twelve. 's just a good color."

Chapter Text

Auvo crept carefully along behind the hippogryph. He was bigger than it, and the crystal plains of Mor Dhona made it hard to blend in to the background. At the same time, he couldn't fall too far behind, or the cursed Miqo'te would snatch another kill from him. G'raha Tia was an excellent hunter, as demonstrated when first they met. He was also competitive, and Auvo was easy to goad into another contest. Find something to feed everyone back at camp, and bring it back. Unfortunately, in Mor Dhona, their options were essentially hippogryph, toad, morbol, or snake, none of which were good eating. He wasn't sure the toads or morbols were even safe to eat. The lake cobras may have had more meat, but he'd also heard G'raha muttering about needing to replace his bowstrings, and the sinews in the hippogryph would work well enough for that.

His prey rounded a corner, and Auvo jogged to catch up. Ahead was the biggest hippogryph he'd seen to date. It was perched on a crystal boulder, and Auvo couldn't keep following the little one if he wanted to avoid this one spotting him. He'd heard tales in the Find's camp over the last week of a giant hippogryph terrorizing the researchers, but he'd thought it was blown out of proportion. No, it seemed the tales of this Gwyllgi were quite accurate.

It was perfect. Now he could get plenty of bowstring replacements and feed everyone and win the contest!

---

It may have been a monster, but Auvo had gone toe to toe with primals. Gwyllgi didn't stand a chance. Field dressing it, on the other hand, was proving to be a nightmare. The skin was tough, and the meat more so. It'd probably have to be stewed to have any chance of being chewable. There were plenty of sinews, but cutting them out of the creature was a difficult and time-consuming process. Rona happily chowed down on the organs a few paces away, and wouldn't be happy with riding until she was done. Auvo sighed and tried to get more meat off the skin-and-bones body before heading back to camp.

He arrived first, and therefore won. Barely. G'raha arrived not five ticks behind him with a mudpuppy tail. Auvo had completely forgotten about the mudpuppies. It would have been so easy! It was certainly the better meat, and Auvo was a vegetarian. He may have won, but it didn't feel like victory.

Despite that...it wasn't like he found himself mad at G'raha. He'd fulfilled the spirit of the competition better; it simply meant Auvo would have to try harder next time. Yes, there would certainly be a next time, and one after that, surely. It'd been awhile since Auvo had felt pushed like this.

Chapter Text

Auvo sat at the table and rested his head in his hands. He didn't know if this was worse or better. He'd worked himself to exhaustion trying to distract himself, then again trying to help. The Ironworks and Coinach's Find were both reporting on him to Tataru and Krile, the former of which had finally put her foot down and sent him home to get some rest.

It was too damn quiet.

It was rarely loud in the house, but this silence was so much worse. He'd never complain about Nea's explosions again, never grumble about any of them bringing loud friends over. Anything to not have the house silent in their absence.

He didn't know if it was better or worse than what happened to the Scions. At least he knew they were alive. They slumbered in the Rising Stones under Krile 's watchful gaze, but they were there, they were breathing, he could visit and experience a different kind of hurt for a time.

The other Lights were just gone. Vanished into thin air like they'd never existed. One minute Zenos was standing over him while Nea, Aely, and Phi were fighting their own headaches, and the next he was waking up alone in Ishgard. Estinien had left a report that in between blocking Zenos' sword and picking up Auvo the other three had just disappeared. No one had even seen it.

What in the world was he even supposed to do? For once, there were no primals to slay, the Empire had pulled back, there was no new threat save the one the mysterious voice was warning of. A growl built in his throat unbidden at the thought.

If anything had happened to any of the people he cared about, he was going to kill him, intentions be damned.

Auvo looked up from his hands, and two of the chairs appeared filled. Blue and gold eyes stared back at him. Fray and Myste said nothing. They hadn't since the big confrontation. The fact that they'd appeared again at all was worrying. Maybe he should go see Sidurgu again, at least apprise him of the new development.

He blinked and they were gone.

Auvo hated this. Hated the waiting, not knowing, unable to do shit when almost everyone he cared about was in danger. A Dark Knight found their greatest strengths from love, and someone (that Word-cursed voice) had gone through and meticulously removed as many sources as they could get their hands on.

He really was going to kill the man, he thought.

Chapter Text

Auvo breathed deep. She smelled like tumeric and vinegar. She'd been dying yarn that week. Bright yellow like the sun. She was so, so warm, her arms seemed so strong most of the time but tonight they trembled around him. Her chest heaved, and though she kept it quiet Auvo could feel the damp spot on his shoulder.

The village lights behind her flickered yellow, orange, and red. Blue up in Ukina's tree, she must have been brewing something magical. A thin breeze blew through the Woods and Auvo's hair stuck to his wet face. He was crying too. Like her, he was doing his best to keep it quiet. Every man went through this. He was not special, every man left. That was the way of the Wood. The Word demanded it.

It was still so hard to say goodbye.

He didn't protest when she picked him up, and he still didn't protest as she carried him away from home. Rael walked just ahead of her, but Auvo couldn't see that. He could just see the twins and Coeli getting a last look from their houses.

She shifted her grip on him. She was strong, and tall, but Auvo was no longer a little kit who fit easily in her arms. Next time he saw her, he'd be fully grown. She probably wouldn't be able to carry him at all then. He swallowed, trying not to cry harder than he already was.

He heard Rael stop, the leaf litter barely shifting as he did.

"Renja. It's time," he said, voice so rough it seemed to scratch inside Auvo's head.

She lowered him, and the arms she'd been using to carry him instead wrapped around him in a desperate, tight hug.

"Be brave, Auvo," she said. "Be strong, be smart, be good. Follow the Word and come back home."

"I-I will," Auvo promised.

She did not release him.

"Mama," he said, "Mama, you have to let me go."

"This is the last time I'll ever hold you like this. Let me hold you a little longer," she whispered.

Chapter Text

Auvo was flicking his ears as he looked up at Mt. Gulg. The Light was so loud now, it was like standing beside a thundering waterfall, or a Garlean alarm going off not fulms away, and yet it had no variance. A single, droning note that never wavered but made it hard to hear all the same. Some part of him could feel Vauthry's call for the Sin Eaters, but there was no compulsion to respond. What that meant...

"What's on your mind?" Nea asked behind him, and Auvo jumped two feet in the air and grabbed his sword before he realized it was her. "...hm. It's usually harder to sneak up on you."

"Whatcha want?" Auvo asked, not wanting to admit he couldn't hear as well.

"You're thinking hard about something. Your ears keep twisting around, I can tell. So, what is it? What mystery has you thinking so hard when normally you'd be knee deep in gear upkeep now?"

Nea was so damn perceptive. His ears were moving to try to make up for the loss of input, but he wasn't about to tell her that. Her tail was swaying, anticipating something to solve or discover or research, but he didn't have that for her. Well...not about the hearing, but maybe there was something else.

"Vauthry controls the Sin Eaters because he's a Lightwarden, right?" he asked.

Nea tilted her head, her ears flicked, and she nodded. "That should be correct."

"I have four of them in me now."

Nea's tail swayed faster for a moment before she grinned. "Let's go find out!"

"Wha—" Auvo's half-hearted attempt at protesting was cut off by Nea grabbing his hand and dragging him away from the Talus construction site. He'd given her exactly what she wanted.

"This could be huge!"

"Nea—"

"This could completely change the battle!"

"Nea let me—"

"Turning Vauthry's security back on him! It'd be brilliant! He'll never—"

"Nea! Let me walk in front, all the monsters are getting ready to ambush you!"

Nea stopped and looked around at the cliffkites that were eyeing the pair with hunger in their eyes.

"Ah. Okay, we're trying to find a Sin Eater to test on. Something small would be preferred, but if all we can find is a bear we can use that too."

Auvo stepped ahead. "Should we bring Ryne?"

She laughed. "Oh, Thancred would not approve. Besides, if it goes wrong we're just killing it." Nea practically skipped along behind him. "I think there were some little ones lower down."

Slowly, they picked their way across Kholusia and down the Ladder. It wasn't hard to find the pack of Forgiven Clamors, taking out most of the dog-like Eaters with ease. Auvo cleaved pieces off of some, while Nea froze and roasted them around him.

"Sit!" Auvo tried, when only one ravenous beast remained.

It did not seem inclined to listen, jaws snapping at Auvo as he did his best not to kill it or be killed.

"Stop! Stand down!"

He almost had to stop himself from saying bad dog.

"You don't feel anything?" Nea checked, staff still raised to attack.

No, nothing new, but the cold accumulation of Light inside had to be accessible somehow, right? He tried to reach in, like when he channeled the Abyss, pulling on the cold sensation in his chest.

"Stop fighting me," Auvo commanded.

It was like a switch was flipped. One minute, Auvo was bracing his sword against the Eater, and the next, his sword was on the ground as he clutched at his chest. That horrible shattering sound was back, deafening all else as the cold changed from feeling like ice was dripping in his chest to feeling like he'd just jumped into the fishing hole in Coerthas. It seemed to consume him, and for a terrifying moment Auvo thought it would take him over. Just as he'd felt in Malikah's Well.

But the moment ended. A few haggard breaths later, he could feel Nea's hands on his shoulders; he could look up and meet her purple eyes as she scanned him for obvious signs of injury.

"Auvo, that scared me. We aren't going to keep testing right now. We can beat Vauthry the old-fashioned way...are you okay?"

He took a few more deep breaths and nodded. Nea took her own deep breath and stepped back, letting him go. Auvo straightened back up.

"Let's go back," he said.

Nea turned to head back to the Ladder.

The Forgiven Clamor behind her sat patiently, head cocked like it was waiting for something. It was exactly what they were trying for. The sight made Auvo feel sick.

Chapter Text

His lungs were starting to burn. Just starting, he hadn't been in the water long. He knew, theoretically, that he just needed to take a breath. Alisaie and Lyse and the Lights were swimming just ahead, he could hear Nea laughing. Clearly, the Kojin's blessing worked, and yet he seemed unable to force himself to breathe. Every instinct was screaming at him to surface, to conserve energy, hells, even to teleport, anything but breathing in the water around him. He just had to force it.

...he couldn't seem to force it. He was falling behind as they all swam for Sui-no-Sato. He was one of the better swimmers, but it afforded him little leeway when the others were breathing water. Phi noticed, and turned sluggishly in the water.

"You okay back there?" he asked.

Auvo tried to give him a thumbs up, but he wasn't sure Phi could see it so far away. The water blurred his vision, he was sure it blurred Phi's too.

"'m good," he tried to call back, releasing a flurry of bubbles when he spoke and making his breath predicament ten times worse. Now there was no air in his lungs, the need to breathe seemed a million times worse. He wasn't even in danger! He just needed to take a Word-cursed breath and he'd be fine!

He was starting to get spots in his vision when he was very suddenly burning. He gasped, half in shock and half in pain, as the water around him boiled. He swam as quick as he could away from the hot spot, panting, but not more than singed. The shock has at least gotten him breathing.

It really was no different from breathing air.

He glanced back at the group. Some of the blurriness seemed to have lifted with the water in his lungs. Nea wore a wolfish grin, her staff in hand.

Chapter Text

Auvo couldn't keep the scowl off his face, as he stared back at Fannow. It was everything he'd lost, welcoming him back with open arms, and yet he had to actively remind himself not to hate it.

"You're an awfully long way from your friends. Why the long face?"

Auvo let his scowl deepen as he looked at Emet-Selch. He'd appeared seated on a branch a few fulms away, sitting with his mouth hidden behind laced fingers. He hunched like an old man.

"Go 'way," Auvo huffed.

"Now now, that's not very polite. And I came all this way to cheer you up."

Auvo just huffed.

"You're from a place much like this, yes? Perhaps you hated it. Went adventuring to get away and now you're irritated that you have to go back."

Auvo growled quietly. He didn't like friends poking into his past, an Ascian doing it make his skin crawl. Unfortunately, letting anyone speak ill of the Wood felt worse.

"Loved my home."

"Then I fail to see why you're so upset. I know your Viera traditions, if you can't go back is it not a relief to find the same thing here, welcoming you?"

"'s not the same," Auvo said quietly. "It can't ever be the same. No matter how much it looks like it, no matter how much it feels like home."

Emet-Selch hummed noncommittally and stared at Fannow with him.

"Perhaps it could be," he said, almost too low for Auvo to hear.

"How? 's not like my family is there. The history is missing. The connection, the memories. 's not the same, never will be."

He glanced over. Emet's expression was completely unreadable, but he stared at Auvo with such intensity he swore he was starting straight through him. Auvo's ears pinned back and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Stop it. Go 'way," he repeated.

Emet-Selch looked up, closed his eyes, and shook his head.

"Very well. Til next time, little Light."

Chapter Text

Auvo breathed carefully through his mouth, ears up and alert as he followed Phi through the brush. Gridania wasn't nearly as dense as Golmore, but the forest still provided adequate cover. Phi was likewise crouched and listening, watching for a sign that the vilekin had noticed the pair. The diremite chittered at one of its ... What did one call a group of diremites? A swarm? A pack? Whatever, it was busy with another diremite in the group. Phi's tail swayed slowly in front of him as he gripped his spear. Carefully, Auvo tapped Phi's hand with his own spear. He needed to grip an ilm or two lower, that was all. Phi readjusted and aimed. His tail stopped moving smoothly, instead flicking about in smaller movements. It reminded Auvo of Rona, getting ready to pounce. Likewise, Auvo readied his hunting spear. He was only there to make sure Phi was alright, but he wanted to be ready if something went wrong.

For a moment Phi was completely, perfectly still, as if time had stopped. Then, in the blink of an eye, he sprang from the brush. His back arced, he drew his arm back, and launched his spear into the diremite's face.

Auvo grinned. Phi had this in the bag.

The vilekin screeched and skittered towards the Miqo'te as he landed, calling his spear back with ease and thrusting at the beast again. It reared back, spitting webs from its mouth as it lashed out with its tail. Phi dodged both with catlike grace.

Sometimes, the way he moved reminded him of Honey. He was fine with the spear, more than passable, but he felt no connection with it like Auvo did, and if they could find a fighting style that fit the boy better Auvo would absolutely encourage him to try it.

That said, watching Phi duck and weave and dance around the diremite left no doubt that being a Lancer worked for him. He lacked power, but more than made up for it with speed and accuracy.

With a well-placed thrust into one of the diremite's eyes, the beast shuddered and fell still. Auvo stood up as Phi turned back, panting hard but smiling.

"I did it!" Phi proudly declared.

"Y' did good," Auvo said. "'s go back to town an' eat." He turned and whistled for Rona.

Phi cheered.