Koi's Attempts at FFXIV Write 2023

Hanako had been given her brief on the boat towards Eorzea, so she zoned out to the second recital of it in Eorzean. She didn't know half of what he was saying and she didn't care for the other half. The gripping force of defeat overwhelmed her body, she hunched over the seat in the cart. Everyone in Ishgard stared at her, mothers careened their children away from her visage, and people gasped if she made eye contact with them. Hanako didn't understand their muttering or flowery outrage, but she knew disgust and rejection and she felt it. These next months we're going to be tough. Somehow she'd have to find a way to project this princess-like damsel whilst being socially labelled as an outcast. She didn't quite understand what in her visage was triggering them so, the pointy eared weirdos looked just as strange to her and she did to them, but it didn't matter. Her job was protection, not to gain social rapport. She could use her visage as a weapon to steer would-be assailants away and shock others into an advantageous approach.

Hanako glanced over to her new clients. One was a rather old and battle-worn man who was very well mannered and seemed sweet. He had attempted to offer Hanako some form of candy but her anxiety led her to decline. Her second client was a strange young girl. She sat stiffly, almost if she was being held up by razor-wire. Her hair was was a dirty green-blonde, and her face sat coldly. The girl appeared to be somewhat older than Hanako, but the way her eyes lingered on Hanako showed a case of somewhat guarded curiosity. Hanako had to keep an awareness of things, even now. She needed to get a good idea of both her clients and the landscape they were working within to properly protect and fulfill her work. She looked above the dismissive grounds to the landscape.

From the bumpiness of the cart she could discern that the streets were made of cobble, but it wasn't a far guess given that everything in this city was made of some sort of stone. The stone that surrounded her looked worn and crumbling, she had been told that this nation was at war, but even without that information she could see it. Homes were missing roofing in some part. The pavement would sometimes give way to a giant crater that seemed bigger than the cart itself. Her focus though, was on the buildings. Where the damage lay, there was an opportunity. She could see these structures were rife for climbing, although unlike where she grew up she knew she'd have to take more care due to their fragile nature, she still could use her climbing skills to gain the upper hand or outpace an assailant. The question was how she could do this whilst also ensuring the safety of her ward, who couldn't climb.