cricket yikit

he's my ffxiv character (aether/siren)! the drawn art by me is often inaccurate because i am not very good at capturing his likeness LOL

   cricket was originally a gnath, serving as an archer under the one-mind. he lost his connection with the one-mind almost fifteen years after his hatching-- making him quite elderly, for a gnath. rejoiced at his newfound freedom, he encountered the vath storyteller (not the current canon storyteller, but his prodecessor and mentor) and lived among the vath for some few more years. he felt his age in his bones, though, and grieved the lifetime spent under the influence of the one-mind. he wanted to explore eorzea, not be stuck in the forests that he'd been trapped in his entire life! alas, his aging body refused him, and he stayed at lost ast vath.
   and so he stayed, waiting for his body to fail him entirely as he helped guide the younger vath through their newfound freedom. he resigned himself to living vicariosly through them, and aided the storyteller and his prodigee in raising chocobo. lemondrop, the first chocobo hatched at lost ast vath, became his constant companion and, eventually, mobility aid.

   one night, he had a strange dream. a crystal, a voice, the sensation of floating through space. when he awoke, his hands resembled those of the men that caught the chocobo-- but small, like a child's. he felt none of the aches that had been plaguing him for years, and laid staring at his hands in wonder and silently reveling in the relief for some time.
   his student, whilom, came into his room to check on him when he wasn't present for the morning meal. she feared the worst, pulling back the curtain, clicking nervously as she entered. cricket, startled out of his wonder, stood up at once and rushed to greet her.
   not recognizing the figure before her, whilom let out a buzz and jumped back; cricket, unphased, quickly put his hand on her shoulder and explained what little he knew. he had been a vath yesterday, and today he was reborn into a new body, resembling those of men's and with all the youthfulness of a child. it took her a moment to believe him, but the steadiness of his gaze and assuredness of his hand were the same cricket she'd always known.
   together, they emerged to speak with the storyteller. the meaning of his vision was uncertain, but it was clear at least that he was given the means by which to travel eorzea as he always dreamed; a second chance at life, so to speak. he bid those at lost ast vath farewell and set out on his journey, towards the chocobo hunters to the east.

   he struggled among men; their language was strange and they didn't deal in the black copper gil he'd brought. however, they were friendlier towards him in his new skin than they had ever been towards his vath siblings, and though they had not the resources to spare for a strange, quiet lalafellin boy, they pointed him further east towards ishgard, and from there his knack for chocobo raising found him work at their stables. his restlessness led him to stowaway on a delivery cart heading south, and he found himself wandering aimlessly between towns doing odd jobs for food and shelter for some time.
   though he slowly picked up on the language of men, he never truly mastered it, and so he found himself most at home among people who spoke to him little and expected him to speak less. he worked for a time aboard a ship ferrying people and cargo between limsa and thanalan, and from there eventually encountered the rogue's guild and baderon... and the rest is history!

   you may ask, "why does he wear a vath costume then?" dont ask me this question i dont know the answer. one friend suggested, "you know how sometimes you transition and you wear things from the beforetimes just for fun?" honestly it's mostly just because i like the costume so like... yeah i guess!