Everheart: Chapter 1

Ginal set a small crate down next to a stack already on the ferry, as Selah stood on the dock and pointed at each crate and travel bag, silently counted them all.  The miqo'te wiped the sweat from her brow.  She felt that this particular day was entirely too bright and too humid, here in the Mist of La Noscea.

The sea breeze teased at Ginal's long, green skirt and the long braid she now wore down the back of her hair, as her eyes slowly trailed up the long-legged form of her lover.  She found that she missed Selah's old outfit, with that subligar and small top she used to wear.  Still, the low-cut shirts and form-fitting shorts her lover had taken to wearing in the recent weeks weren't short on the sex appeal, and Ginal most certainly enjoyed what she saw as an ongoing tease of cleavage and legs.  A blush warmed the lancer's face as her eyes met with Selah's.

She's not even trying, and she's still so beautiful.



Selah shot Ginal a knowing smirk, fully aware of what thoughts were forming in her beloved's mind.  Ginal's omni-present lust had become a predictable, and comforting, part of day-to-day life, even on those days when she wasn't feeling up to the task of that intimate dance. Selah had noticed that her kitten had been glancing at her all morning, and blushing when she knew she was caught.  Sometimes, the hyur had to fight back an answering blush, though she'd never admit to it.

No other lover had ever made her feel so...appreciated, or needed, or sexy.  And the way that Ginal continued to blush like that, and look her over, and seek to touch her even though they had already shared so much passion and intimacy, made Selah truly appreciative of what she had with the redhead.   Even on those days where she had to tell Ginal that she wasn't up for it.

I pray you never stop sharing this fire with me, my Kitten.



Ginal stepped back to the dock and walked to Selah, who tilted her intended betrothed's head up by the chin to better let their lips meet.  The miqo'te's tail wrapped around the hyur's leg as she purred her contentment..  The Ginal's hand began to wander and grope, and Selah couldn't help but chuckle at her lover.

"Later, Kitten.  We're not alone, remember?"

Selah sharply tilted her head to indicate the ferryman, who was busying himself with preparing the boat for its journey.  Ginal gave a frustrated pout as her ears folded in.  Selah hated to deny her beloved, but sometimes the miqo'te woman would lose all sense of her surroundings when she began to heat up.

"Selah needs to remind you that you are still in the public eye, hm?" came the softly enunciated words of the elezen Timothy.

Ginal's face flushed pure crimson as she offered an embarrassed smile.  The mercenary employer stood on the dock before the ferry, clad in a finely tailored black suit and polished dress boots, and displaying a jesting grin.

"Sometimes I just can't help myself," Ginal explained.

Timothy laughed and nodded, then looked over his shoulder at the raven-haired hyur woman striding up behind him, clad in all-black boots, skirt, gloves and top.

"Believe me, my dear lady, I understand your desires..."

His words trailed off as he offered a hand to his own beloved, who took it gratefully as she leaned against him.

"I guess this is it, then?" Ozalie asked the lance-wielders.

Selah nodded, and gestured to the crates and travel bags.  "Everything we can take with us is here, even some of the easily assembled furniture."

Ozalie's lips turned in a saddened smile, "I'm really gonna miss you two."

The miqo'te whimpered briefly as she stepped onto the dock and embraced her friend.  It was the long, tight squeeze of an embrace that means you are almost certain you are saying your farewells.  Ginal couldn't help but become misty-eyed as she looked upon Ozalie.

"Aaww, Oz..I'm gonna miss you, too.  But I promise, I really will try to keep in touch.  Please do the same."

The raven-haired hyur returned the misty-eyed smile as she nodded an affirmative.

"I promise, I'll try as well."

Selah offered a goodbye hug of her own to the other hyur woman, who returned it with feeling.

"Take care of Tim for us," Selah reminded Ozalie.  "You know he needs a lot of looking after."

Ozalie laughed, and grinned up at her lover.  "Mmhmm, he'd be completely lost without me."

Timothy offered his hand to Ginal, who stared at it blankly for a short moment before moving right in for another embrace.

"Look after all of them, Tim."

"You are certain you need to leave us?" the elezen inquired.

The miqo'te nodded, "You payed us well, Tim, but these Pathfinders are offering us a chance to be something more than just mercenaries."

"Very well," Timothy replied, and finally returned the embrace.

Miqo'te ears were every bit as sensitive as elezen, and Ginal knew she heard a veiled sadness in Timothy's voice as she stepped back aboard the ferry and began speaking with the waiting ferryman.  As Selah turned to join her, Timothy reached out to halt her.

"Take care of each other."

She nodded, "We will.  When Grezel returns from Coerthas, tell him to look us up."

Selah and Timothy shared a brief, bitter-sweet smile before the hyur went back to the ferry, and the lance wielders told the ferryman that they were finally ready to depart.  The small vessel slowly turned and sailed away from the beach of the Mist, and the lovers stood at the stern to watch.  Their friends stayed upon the dock, offering goodbye waves and words that couldn't be heard, and the two knew they were leaving home behind.

Maybe, someday, they'd return to claim their own home here, among the palm trees and constant breezes, and could visit their old friends anytime.  But for now, it was time to turn the page, and begin a new chapter of their lives.



Within a week, Selah and Ginal sailed to the Thanalan region and traveled by cart to the Goblet housing district.  Ginal thought it looked almost like a fortress city as it sat atop the mountain, with its intricately carved walls, sprawling paved roads, and grandly designed manors of varying sizes, all carved from the same sturdy brown and beige stones.  Ginal didn't much care for Ul'dahn architecture and city design, but at least there were a couple of rather magnificent waterfalls and ponds, and that was a good start in her mind.  Selah had come to think of the Black Shroud as her home, and loved the simple wooden villages, but these Ul'dah towns weren't far from the architecture she'd grown up with, and so it didn't feel so foreign for her.

The two had already arranged and furnished their new living quarters, within their new free company's manor, to match the rooms they had left behind.  Ginal and Selah were equally excited to begin their new employment; mentoring the misfits, fresh faced pups and aimless wanderers that the Pathfinders scooped up.  These were people not too different than the lance-wielding lovers had been not even a year ago, people who just didn't fit in anywhere else.  They agreed it would be good to do what they could here to help these souls find a better path.  Tomorrow, they would talk at length with their new employer, a hyur woman named Elysande.  They needed to make sure they knew exactly what would be needed of them here, and they needed to start meeting their new fellows.  For tonight, though, it was time to rest and recover from the taxing move across provinces.

Selah was drying herself with a towel after a bath in their new tub, while staring out the window at the night sky.  Ginal dropped her own towel on the floor, then remembered she had been asked not to do so several times, and hung it from its drying rack.  The miqo'te hugged her lover from behind and followed her gaze.

"Hey, I know those stars."

Selah nodded, "I've spent my life looking at that star cluster...usually on those nights when I was at my most lonesome, or frightened."  She looked back at the miqo'te with a soft smile.  "I've always felt like someone important was looking at them too, and that if I just kept following those stars, I'd find something wonderful."

Ginal purred as she pressed against her beloved.  "Mmhmm... I've felt that, too... Have we been looking to those stars together this whole time?"

"It certainly feels like it, doesn't it?  It would be nice to have our own guiding stars."

The lovers stared out the window for a long, comfortably silent moment, Ginal wrapping her tail about her hyur's leg.  It occurred to her that it had been days since the two of the were alone for an extended period, which meant it had been days since they had explored each other.  But as Ginal looked up at her naked beloved, she realized that she was perfectly content to just enjoy the silence and the star gazing.  She laid her head against Selah for a while longer, before the two slid into their underwear and camisoles and settled into bed.  After an affectionate exchange of kissing and nuzzling, they drifted off in loving embrace.

A burning pain raged through Ginal's body as she tumbled to the ground.  The cold wind bit at her face as her dark-skinned hands desperately reached for her sword, and she clumsily pulled herself to her feet.  Snow fell from her matted blonde hair as she took notice of the multiple minor burns on her arms, and her blonde tail whipped about anxiously.  She was overcome by a bizarre and disorienting sensation, almost as though she was outside her own body while she was still acting in the moment.  

She looked upon the dark haired elezen woman before her, whose hands were outstretched with aether swirling wildly around them.  The elezen had a grim, discontented expression, a feeling Ginal found herself sharing.  This wasn't the first time the miqo'te had to face Selah in such a battle, and she was learning to hate the fate that required this exhausting struggle.  Despite the difference in their origin, these two were not so different, and Ginal knew they had a great deal they could learn from each other.

Ginal lunged forward, shifting her weight to the side to avoid a large, sharp shard of ice that Selah had loosed.  With another half-moment's passing, the miqo'te had her blade against her opponent's throat.  She took notice of the blood tricking down Selah's pale arm, and the small smear of crimson on her blade from the wound she had inflicted.  The entire situation felt wrong in a way she couldn't explain.

The combatants locked their gaze, and searched into each other's souls.  Neither could bring themselves to make another move, nor could they see much beyond the sadness pooling in their eyes.

Selah was having the most wonderful dream, a thrilling adventure involving sweet cream cherries.  But the haze of the dream slowly peeled back as she realized she was listening to her lover sobbing.  She forced her eyes into focus with rapid blinking, and she pulled herself up to wrap Ginal in an embrace. 

"What's wrong?"

Ginal whimpered and shivered, her eyes glistening in the candlelight, "It w-was you... a-and me... but it wa-wasn't us..."

Thw hyur peered searchingly at her lover, gently rubbing her back in small circles.  She placed a gentle kiss on Ginal's forehead and offered a reassuring smile.

"Tell me about it?"

"There w-was snow...and wind... a-and I had a sword, and y-you had magic..."  The whimpers remained constant, though her shivering seemed to be gradually easing.  "We were f-fighting... there was b-blood!"

Selah realized the details seemed familiar.  Her attention drifted a bit from her lover as she began to recall her own perspective of when she had seen this.  She thought of telling Ginal... But this wasn't about her own needs right now, and Selah mentally chided herself for her wandering attention.  Her beloved needed her love and comfort.

"Want to tell me more?" She whispered into Ginal's ear.

Ginal drew in and exhaled a ragged breath, shaking her as she wiped at her eyes, "Just... please hold me."

Selah obliged, and gently rocked the miqo'te as she hummed a soft lullaby melody she remembered.  Ginal's breaths gradually evened out, and her shivering finally ceased.  The hyur kissed her miqo'te's ears, and when she realized she heard a soft purr, gently tilted Ginal's face up to offer a loving kiss.

"I love you."

"I love you, Kitten."

Ginal gripped her hyur's camisole as she sought another kiss, which Selah happily reciprocated, followed by another, and third that lingered.  She realized that Ginal's hands were now wandering, searching for places to squeeze and grope.  Selah hesitated, uncertain if this was right when Ginal was in such a state.  Seemingly sensing the hesitation, the miqo'te looked up at her beloved with eyes that silently pleaded.  As Selah gazed into those deep pools of emerald, whose brilliant shine could even be seen in this near darkness, she understood that this was her love's instinctual way of reaching out for comfort in such a vulnerable state.

"I need you..." Ginal whispered.

Without another word, the dragoon kissed her Kitten again, freed her of her camisole, and laid her back.