Work Text:
Somehow, amid defeating some of the Lightwardens and dealing with the influx of aether that came with it, Veronyka still found the time to cast her line into unfamiliar waters. She watched the fish swim around, waiting for them to nibble at her bait, before she sat back and relaxed. Her extra-large wide-brimmed hat (which Jack had insisted on) kept the sun off of her face now rather than the burning Light, and that was nice. What was infinitely less nice was the fact that said Light was now directed inwards. But she could ignore that in these few brief and wonderful moments.
Until an infuriatingly-familiar voice reached her ears, causing Veronyka’s tail to lash in the sand of Ahm Areng upon which her small fishing stool was perched.
“Ho there, Veronyka!” Lue-Reeq called. Veronyka scowled before turning to glare at the blue-furred Mystel.
“What?” Veronyka snapped. He may feed her a good meal, yes, but it was a very small prize in return for putting up with the annoying little shite.
“There has been a sighting of Andreia in this area,” said Lue-Reeq, jogging over to join her. He immediately recoiled at the smell of fish. “Egads, woman, what on earth are you playing at? We’ve a hunt to attend to!”
As Veronyka slowly got to her feet and changed out her rod for a bow, she debated telling Lue-Reeq that she had already fought at least one of the notorious monsters of the First and won, and how many had he fought? She also debated pushing him into the River of Sand, but decided against it. He’d probably just poison the sand.
“Lead the way, then,” said Veronyka. Lue-Reeq chattered away as he led Veronyka towards Samiel’s Backbone, talking about ways they might take her down or the feast they’d have afterwards and how well he would pay her for her assistance. Never mind that he was usually the one watching while Veronyka did all the work.
This was no different now, Veronyka swiftly putting down the horrible spider-shaped Sin Eater while musing over the way that Zelda would have asked her to do the same. The difference was that she liked her leader, and Zelda was quite capable otherwise. In battle, anyway.
“There, it’s dead,” said Veronyka, turning to Lue-Reeq, where he hid behind a large stone. “Now can I go back to fishing?”
Lue-Reeq probably had something to say in response, something about a hunt, no doubt, or feast, but Veronyka’s eyes snagged on the too-white figure of a miqo’te who she remembered only too well. Only this miqo’te had an aura about her too, and a poisoned arrow which she nocked.
Mercifully, the arrow missed the miqo’te gripped by an Echo vision, landing safely in the sand behind her.
Veronyka was no longer herself. Instead, she seemed to be watching from a distance as Renda-Rae and two companions hid behind Samiel’s Backbone (just how old were these bones?) and discussed the great hunt who stood ahead of them.
“Remember to watch for its roar,” one of her companions was saying, the other nodding. But Renda-Rae only stared dead ahead, ready to take down this great beast that posed such a threat to the people of Norvrandt.
As Renda-Rae raced forward, firing an arrow at the beast, Veronyka saw an image of her younger self. Only there was no kindly father hrothgar to save Renda-Rae as the beast emitted a piercing roar that rendered the miqo’te and her companions helpless.
It was only through sheer luck (or more likely a cruelty of this world’s Mother) that Renda-Rae was able to walk away with only bloodied ears and a thirst for vengeance to show for her encounter.
“Are you alright?” Lue-Reeq kneeled in the sand at Veronyka’s side, the worry in his wide eyes and flattened ears palpable.
“I’m fine,” said Veronyka, sitting up and trying to pat sand out of her hair. “It happens a lot to me and all of my friends, I got a vision of her past.”
“A what?” Lue-Reeq blinked at her. “Oh, we can use this! What did you see?”
“She and two friends tried to take down a great beast, but… it didn’t go so well,” said Veronyka. “She vowed to slay the beast to avenge them, though.”
“Slay the beast to avenge… now, why is that familiar?” Lue-Reeq muttered, brow furrowed, his tail flicking back and forth in thought. “Hrmm, I must think on this some more. But first, a feast! We deserve it after all our hard work!” Veronyka grumbled to herself as she followed him. A nice, hot shower would be nice too.
But more importantly, the window had passed for her to catch that big fish…
The next time Lue-Reeq decided to pay a visit, his shout caused her to lose the fish that she’d just spent hours trying to catch in a cavern in Rak’tika. This time, she did throw him into the water, Lue-Reeq coughing and spluttering.
“It’s five ilms deep,” Veronyka snapped at him. Lue-Reeq sat up, fuming.
“What the bloody hells was that for?” he demanded.
“I have been here since midnight!” Veronyka shouted, uncaring of the bats she startled in the air nearby.
“Wait, but the sun has barely arisen,” said Lue-Reeq.
“Exactly,” said Veronyka through grit teeth.
“My men have reported to me that Andreia was sighted in this area,” said Lue-Reeq. Veronyka aimed her bow at him for a moment before gesturing with her head for him to get moving. Deephaunt wouldn’t be available for another week, at least.
To Lue-Reeq’s deep disappointment and Veronyka’s annoyance, they could not find the bear that Andreia had supposedly turned into a Sin Eater. They did, however, find its corpse, and an old rival of Lue-Reeq’s. Veronyka paid little attention to their bickering, however, instead looking for the Virtue herself. The sooner they killed it, the sooner she could never have to talk to Lue-Reeq again.
The Virtue stood in the middle of a grove. Hearing Veronyka’s footsteps, she turned, and Veronyka was drawn into another Echo vision.
Renda-Rae stood before the beast that had killed her friends. Gone was the happy-go-lucky mask that she wore with Ardbert and her fellow travelling companions, now, she was stony-faced, ready to face this foe. Per her earlier encounter, she had learned, placing wax plugs in her ears so that the beast would not be able to disable her. Instead, she strode forward boldly, nocking an arrow that actually hit the beast this time. But it would not go down easily.
And now, Veronyka was in Renda-Rae’s body, the familiarity causing her to gasp in surprise. It wasn’t just being a female Mystel, no- there was a sense that Veronyka recognised, the sense that this powerful beast was right in front of her. A sense that she felt whenever she came into contact with a notorious monster.
But there was one in front of her now, and she must fight it. And fight she did, giving it her all, though for all her strength and prowess with the bow, Renda-Rae did not do so well on her own.
When she almost fell, down for the count, her friends emerged. The relief that swept through both beings who shared the body was palpable, the group working together to down the beast for good. Though even Veronyka was surprised when Renda-Rae decided to remain with the group, welcomed back in by the ever-understanding and patient Ardbert.
Lue-Reeq’s angry face was as a splash of cold water after that.
“Look at you, sleeping on the job! You’re useless!” he snarled. “Consider our contract ended!”
“Good,” said Veronyka. “That means I can finally do this.”
The sound of the slap almost rivalled that of when Y’shtola had slapped Thancred for misbehaving. Good. She hoped it bruised.
Somehow, Miss Olvara, Lue-Reeq’s old wetnurse, managed to convince Veronyka to continue working with him. It was not for money, though she knew the idiot boy had less money than he had sense, but simply because she knew that Renda-Rae would not want to be a monster. Not after all that she’d done to prevent them.
The final showdown, not too far from the spot where Renda-Rae had gained new life, felt wrong. Rotten, to be attacking her own soul. But she supposed that, in a way, it was like curing an infection. Cut the bad away that the good may thrive.
Still, Veronyka found herself crying as Andreia was at last defeated.
“Hey.” This voice, too, was familiar, though mostly from Echo visions now. Veronyka opened her eyes to find the shade of Renda-Rae, no longer a Virtue but now free. “Don’t cry. You freed me.”
“You went through so much and earned your rest and…” Veronyka trailed off, a ghostly thumb swiping through a tear.
“I know,” said Renda-Rae. “But thanks to you, I can rest now. Or I could… if I wanted to.”
“Don’t you want to rest, though?” Veronyka asked.
“Don’t you?” Renda-Rae replied. “Minfilia left Ardbert here to look after you, and that’s all well and good, but… I’ve missed the hunt.” She gave a laugh, echoed by Veronyka. “So, what do you say? Put my soul crystal in that bow of yours and take me hunting with you?” As she spoke, she placed the soul crystal into Veronyka’s palm.
“Only if you’re certain,” said Veronyka.
“Well, you have my innate ability to sense notorious hunt monsters, may as well teach you how to use it more effectively,” said Renda-Rae. “I might even be able to teach you how to handle the more powerful visions better.”
“You got those too?” Veronyka blurted.
“How do you think I found the damn thing that almost killed me?” Renda-Rae asked. Veronyka smiled. “Heh. Just glad you learned the value of friendship in a much better way than me.”
“Maybe I can teach you how to hunt in a group,” said Veronyka.
“Not that it’ll help me much but… yeah,” said Renda-Rae. “I will join you.”
“Oh! And can you teach me how to channel magic into your bow like you did back in the Bowl of Embers?” Veronyka asked.
“Absolutely,” said Renda-Rae, nodding. Veronyka grinned. Here she had thought that she’d killed a reflection of herself, when really… she’d gained a part instead.