Traveler

A young Auri Raen girl with white shoulder length hair had been tapping her fingers in a slow, steady beat upon the desk. She had been alone in the archive as her father worked. Typically, he would check in with her and after seeing her at the table, he would then go back to work. However today was not that typical.

He didn’t check in. And it had been such a great day outside. The sun was bright in the sky.

She wondered where her mom was, leaning back in her chair. The squeak of the wood caused the girl to stop in her movement as she looked around. No one seemed the wiser to her noise.

Her mother had other duties that required her elsewhere—something about herbs and gathering them—which meant she was left to her own devices. Her dragon tail twitched left to right as she squirmed in her chair again. The hard wood of the seat felt uncomfortable to remain upon as she struggled to pass the time.

There was no real way to say it best, but she was bored.

Sighing, she propped her small arm up on the desk, as she cupped her cheek adorned with white scales in her palm. She exhaled a breath.

How much longer would it be until her parents were off?

She kicked her feet under the table, trying her best to stave off her creative imaginations that cried to her to leave. She drummed her fingers anxiously, turning to see a horologe of Sharlayan design in the corner.

From the last time she checked until that moment, only ten minutes went by.

“I’m sooooo bored…” she turned her head back to the desk.

In that moment of boredom and struggle to remain where she was told, she glimpsed what she thought was a lone individual in a black cloak. She blinked, rubbing her eyes. She had never seen an individual like that before. 

She watched them walk down one of the many bookshelves, and disappear. 

Now she felt really curious. 

The seconds felt like a growing eternity, and she shoved herself up and away. There was nothing like the present to find something to do, and she thought what better way than to find out who that person was. She hopped out of the chair, walking down a few aisles of bookshelves that towered high above. She wondered why an archive even needed all these books when they just collected dust.

She peered down many of the aisles, yet she could not find them. She spied done another area, catching what she assumed was the swish of a black cloak moving toward the front. 

She ran down the aisle to catch up, seeing the welcome desk up front and the doors o the Archive building were left open ajar. 

“Outside...” She mumbled, looking down at the ground and her clumsy feet. Well, if she wasn’t caught going outside then she couldn’t very well get into trouble. And it wasn’t like she could let such a good opportunity pass. 

She was also curious about the stranger that appeared and disappeared from view. She nodded, and decided to slip past where the main welcome desk had been. No one had been there, probably helping a scholar or other important member of the forum. Or they were cleaning. Who knew what these people did while they worked? She’d seen her dad from time to time reading very old scriptures and translating for some old people, but that was the extent of what she knew he did there.

Escaping out the open front doors, she followed the descending steps to the giant courtyard below. The cloaked person from before had stopped by the fountain, only for them to step into a dark purple portal. 

She widened her eyes, mouth agape at the sight. When the person disappeared from view, she rubbed her eyes with her hands and stared down the stairs. That person was gone! And without a trace to boot! 

She could see a giant fountain spewing bursts of water upward in the sky. This drew her attention almost immediately.

She ran down the steps, making sure not to trip over her feet as she took the steps down. By the time she reached the fountain, she was out of breath and needing a moment to breath. “He’s gone...” she mumbled, looking up, down, left and right. No one had been around the area either for her to ask them how they disappeared so quickly. 

Yet her feet were kind of hurting now that she was standing and running. In a quick decisive movement, she pulled herself up to the edge of the fountain, where she kicked off her sandals and swung herself around to stick her feet in.

The water felt really cool on her feet. She hummed to herself, amusing herself with the water now. The cloaked individual was the least of her concerns as she was content to play in the water. 

Hear… feel… think…

Such a strange call that echoed in her mind. The voice never changed either. It was a feminine voice. Motherly in nature, and always just shy of a whisper. It was something she’d grown used to in her years, just shy of her fourth birthday. She couldn’t recall when the voices started, but she knew it had been prior to leaving their first home.

They’d come from a long way—a far off continent where many people—bad people—tried to take over.

Her family escaped it. Though she always wondered what happened to the tranquil village tucked on the coast of the river. If there was one thing she missed most, it was playing in the river. Her cousin and her would always dash around the shale rocks, kicking up the water to splash one another.

Those were the days.

She returned to the present smiling down to her reflection as she stirred the water’s surface. She giggled at the water’s cool touch.

“Azlyn!”

Uh oh.

She stopped; her feet still submerged in the water. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder to see an older Auri woman with long white hair and purple eyes running down the steps. She took them two at a time. The look upon her face made it abundantly clear that leaving the archive was a bad idea.

“Mommy, look the water is cold!” Now, she knew it wouldn’t make it any easier on getting out of trouble, but at least it would make her mom stop to consider what her daughter had to say.

“How did you get outside by yourself?” The older woman directed her attention to the plaza where a few scholars walking down the stairs looked at the pair with curiously. 

“The door was left open at the front!” Azlyn explained happily, she stood up on the edge of the fountain feeling the water drip down her calves. “I was following a cloaked person! But they disappeared!” 

Her mother sighed, shaking her head. “Come along, shake off the water and put on your sandals. Seeing as your father is busy with some important members of the Forum, I’ll just have to watch you.”

Azlyn did as she was told, stepping out from the fountain and felt the bottoms of her feet slightly burn on the concrete. The warmth had been great for drying the bottom of her feet though. “Sorry.” She pouted.

The woman knelt to help her place her sandals on. She then reached up to pinch her cheeks. “Come on troublemaker, you can make trouble with me today if you’re bored.”

“It is boring here mommy.” Azlyn whined, reaching a hand up to grab her mom’s hand. She let the woman guide them to her work site in the archives. “There’s no kids my age—I am bored sitting at the desk—my butt is red from the seat.” She listed all the reasons that popped up into her head to her.

“Oh is it now?” Her mom chuckled at her daughter’s strange affirmation. “I guess it was wrong to ask a three-year-old to sit still without much to do—that’s probably why you imagined your cloaked friend.”

“No, I’m almost four now! And he was really real!!” Azlyn brightened. “They were walking up and down the books, and so I followed!”

“Really truly?” Her mother laughed at her story. “It sounds like you and your friend had quite adventure then.” She slipped her sandals back on her daughter’s feet. “Sorry to interrupt your fun, but I need some help with my work. Do you think you can help me?”

The girl nodded exuberantly.

“Good. We’re going to be picking tons of herbs and flowers for some of the botanists.” And like that the pair was off to pick herbs. They had re-entered the Archives, but this time they travelled across the hall and to another building outside in the back. The entire building had been made of glass.

“It’s all glass…” Azlyn murmured, staring in awe at the pretty building. She could see within many green plants and garden boxes. Several individuals dressed in gardeners’ outfits tended to the plants inside.

“That’s called a Greenhouse.” Her mom explained as they walked to the front. “They grow many different types of plants—from food to medicinal remedies.”

“Why don’t they call it a glasshouse?” Azlyn asked as they approached the cobblestone pathway. “It’s not even green.”

“It refers to the greenhouse effect but in a more controlled environment.” Her mother expertly replied. “The sun’s heat gets trapped inside the glass which makes it a suitable environment to grow plants or gardens. That is why they call it a Greenhouse, and not a glasshouse.”

“Oooooooh.” The young girl cooed, staring up to the polycarbonate structure. She could tell from the moment she entered the building it was a few degrees hotter than it was outside. 

“Afternoon Liliana!” A gardener called to her, and then noticed the little girl at her side. “Ah, and we have a little apprentice with us today!” The Elezen man nodded, smiling to them. “Welcome to the greenhouse.”

Azlyn nodded back, tentatively ducking to her mom’s side. “Hello.” She murmured to him, she remembered that she was supposed to greet others when they spoke to her. It was the proper way.

He chuckled to her aversion. “Nice to meet you.”

The girl bobbed her head, burying it further into her mom’s side.

Her mom turned to the Elezen. “Thanks for waiting Taloix, we’ll work on gathering the chamomile flowers in the corner garden.”

The one her mom had called Taloix brought his attention back to her mom, and she was mighty thankful for the lack of attention. “We should be thanking you for helping us out. We received a surplus order needing to be shipped no later than this afternoon, so any help we get the better.”

“Will do—and is it alright for Azlyn to help? I’ll show her how to properly gather.”

He smiled brightly. “Yes, that should be alright. If you require any tools or gloves, I’m sure K’hia or myself can find it. Give us a call if you need anything.”

“We will.” Liliana beckoned Azlyn to follow her. When they were by the back corner of the garden plot, her mother knelt to the flowers. “This is chamomile.” She explained as she pointed to the flower itself. “We’ll be wanting just this part. We don’t want to ruin the plant, so we’ll gather the flower like this.” The woman easily gathered the flowers, making sure not to damage the stem or the leaves. She then pointed to the small bulbs growing on some of the stalks. “Leave these as they are, because they’ll soon grow into more flowers like this.”

Azlyn watched her mom present the proper way to pick the plants, she rocked on her feet waiting for her chance to try. After several moments her mom finally opted to give her a chance to collect. While she wasn’t sure how long they’d be working, she was content being with her mom. Together they worked until the entire corner garden had been finished.

She didn’t have a full basket of herbs like her mom had, but her collection had been meticulous. She didn’t want to damage any of the flowers since it seemed like an important job. 

Her mom smiled to her, counting what she had. “Good job!”

Azlyn beamed. “Is this what we’ll be doing from now on?” She looked to the spacious garden. “Are we going to live here? I miss Auntie and Roll.” After mentioning her cousin, she lowered her gaze to the ground. She really missed her.

Liliana placed the woven basket full of chamomile on the ground, before she used her hands to cup her cheeks. She gave her an exhausted expression. “I know it’s tough to be separated from your cousin and Aunt. Your father has work here with the archives, and we have a nice place a bit further from the community. You’ll like it, and when everything settled, we’ll see about getting you some things to do while we’re working. Something fun and exciting. As for your Aunt and Roll… your aunt decided it would be best to move further away. She wanted a new start away from all the wars.”

The wars. Azlyn remembered the bad men. She frowned. “Are they safe at this new place?”

Liliana smiled, nodding once. “Yes. Perhaps tonight when we’re done with work, we can write them a letter. I hear the moogle postal services are amazingly fast.”

Azlyn widened her eyes, wondering if they’d see the moogle postmen again. She liked their white fur and giant pom on their heads. “I like the moogles! They’re sooooo cute!”

Her mom laughed, seeing how that part of the conversation smoothed itself over. “Come along, we have more to do. Ready Azlyn?”

The little Au Ra bobbed her head enthusiastically. “Mmhm!”

By the time they were done with her mom’s work, Azlyn had been bobbing her head back and forth. She could feel her exhaustion pile up as she tiredly looked up to her mom. How did she have all the energy to keep working, the young girl would never know.

She yawned, covering her open mouth with her hand.

“She looks ready to pass out.” Taloix teased as Azlyn clutched onto Liliana’s pant leg. She couldn’t help it as her head started to bob.

Liliana knelt, pulling the girl into her arms. Azlyn took comfort at last, as she cuddled into her mom’s neck and shoulder. Her feet were hurting, so it was a good thing her mom picked her up when she did.

“She hasn’t napped well since we left Doma—” Azlyn could hear her mom speaking, but the words were starting to blur. Her eyelids got heavy, as she let them close. 

She floated in a dark space. She’d been there before—but this time someone was with her. The same black cloaked figure. Azlyn looked around the space, gazing up to see a darkened portrait of the sky with twinkling stars with them. If she looked long enough, she could even see a few shooting stars that would rocket across.

This time no black cloaked person stood with her. It was just herself in this endless space of stars.

That same motherly voice that called to her. She didn’t know who it was, or why it repeated the same thing to her. But she closed her eyes to listen. She could hear the soft thump of her heart beating in her chest—she could feel the warmth around her—she opened her eyes to look up to the sky. She thought the stars were pretty.

She wondered why she dreamed of that place often—wondered why she heard the voice in her head. She just didn’t know. She thought it might be best to tell her parents, but she wondered if they had enough time to listen. They were always busy.

Azlyn awoke from her nap, yawning loudly as she found herself on her mom and dad’s futon. She could smell something cooking in the next room, and slowly walked out. She could see her mom busy cooking their dinner, and Azlyn also noticed the large back of a Male Auri Raen with black hair. He had been sitting on the ground, reading a book.

She walked over, and decided to crawl into his lap. He stopped his reading, as he stared down at her. He had quite the amused expression upon his face. He lowered his book to the table. “Did you have a good nap?”

Azlyn bobbed her head, yawning once more. She pointed to the book he was reading. He always had his reading glasses on when he was reading a textbook. “What’s that?”

“A text that explains in detail the Twelve gods in Eorzea. I was brushing up on my general knowledge.” He explained to her. “How was your day Azlyn? Did you do anything fun?”

She stared to the forgotten book in his hand, and then leaned back against him. She recounted the entire day. “So when you left me at the desk I sat quietly as best as I could—but then I was sooooo bored—and I saw this black cloaked person!” 

Her mother chimed in from her cooking. “Her friend I told you about.” 

“Ahhh...” He nodded his head as if it made sense. “And what happened after that?” 

“And so after a loooong time of looking around, I went outside because that’s where they went! I ran down the steps, but then they disappeared in this dark circle! Then I found a huge fountain at the bottom of the steps—so then I thought what a good idea it’d be to stick my feet in the water—cause it was kind of hot outside—and daddy it was really cold—but then mommy found me, and that’s where the fun began because we got to help the—the bot—botonasts?”

“Botanists.” Her mother corrected as she was cooking.

“Right! The botanists. So, we picked these pretty flowers, and some leaves and roots and other little plants that would help people get better. Then my legs were hurting—but mommy picked me up—and then I took a nap.”

“Sounds like you had quite the day.” Her father chuckled.

“I am tired.” Azlyn leaned back into her father, yawning. “How do you work all day?”

This elicited a bit of laughter from both her mother and father. “We’re much older and have had more time to build up our stamina.” Her father chuckled, before placing the book on the table. He then grabbed ahold of his daughter and picked her up from his lap. “We should train you, so you don’t tire out so much!”

She squealed in delight as he started to play around. At one point he had dangled her by her feet so that she hung down to the ground. Her father was an incredibly tall person—with his dark hair and dark horns and scales. He was also strong, given that he could hold her with ease with one hand. He proved that when he dangled her upside, and then tickled her sides with his free hand.

“Alright, you two—enough rough housing. The food is done.” Her mother called to them. 

Azlyn had been lowered back to the ground. As she crawled over to the table, her breathing erratic as she looked to the spread of food. She spied rice, vegetables, some fruits, and some pieces of grilled meat in the center.

She was excited for the fruit, as she wasn’t much of a fan of the meat. She waited for her father to portion out the food, and together they counted their blessings before eating. Azlyn ate her fruits first—as they were the sweetest. Then she slowly worked on the rice, vegetables, and meat.

She could hear her parents discussing amongst themselves. Not softly, but it was a conversation the girl hadn’t really followed from the beginning. She tuned them out as she focused on her food.

“—thinking of writing a letter tonight to my sister. Azlyn, didn’t you want to write a letter?”

The girl jumped up at the sudden question her mom posed.

“Wha-?” She still had food in her mouth.

Her father leaned over; he brought a finger under her chin to close her gaping mouth. “Eat your food before speaking.”

She hurriedly chewed, being careful not to choke. When she did as was told, she bobbed her head. “I want to write a letter to Auntie and Roll!”

Her mother smiled, “She needs to practice writing at some point. It’d be a good idea to start.”

“She did pick up on her letters when we went over them.” Her father hummed to himself. “Let’s write a letter and then we’ll work on your writing Azlyn.”

The girl didn’t have a clue what that meant but bobbed her head excitedly as it meant time with her parents. “Sounds fun!”

---

It wasn’t all that fun.

After they had finished dinner, the three of them sat at the table for a long time. Azlyn struggled holding the quill in her tiny hand as she tried to copy her father’s writing. She knew the letters, but writing hurt her hands. She wanted to give up about halfway through, but her mother proceeded to goad her with some fresh cookies if she finished writing the letter to her aunt and cousin.

She’d do it for the cookies.

Stubbornly she focused on the task, and at last, she penned the letter that her father wrote out about one-hour prior. She proudly presented it to her parents who nodded.  “Good work.”

Azlyn grinned horn to horn. “Do I get cookies now?”

Her mother conceded, bringing over two. Azlyn happily gorged on one of them before looking to her parents. Her stomach felt a little full… and her parents did stay with her. They deserved a part of the cookies too. She broke the cookie into two and lifted the halves in her hands to them.

“Thank you for showing me how to write my letters.”

She watched as her mother laughed, accepting the cookie with a big grin. Her father leaned down to bite the other half of the cookie out of her hand. Azlyn giggled.

“Alright—time to clean up, you got dirt on your cheeks.” Her father ate the half of the cookie quickly. He rubbed his thumb over her cheek and smeared a bit of the dirt. “No wonder you were tired.”

Azlyn yawned again.

Her mother leaned down to pick her daughter up. “Let’s go wash up before you pass out again.”

All in all, she thought it was a good day—despite the ups and downs she experienced. Maybe she’d have another fun adventure tomorrow? Azlyn couldn’t wait.