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[Ahza'to]

Ahza'to stepped through the threshold of his room, sighing as he pulled off his leather tunic. He moved to the back, into his living area, before removing his cotton undershirt. He tossed both articles of clothing aside haphazardly before reaching for the bottle of Limsan rum that sat next to the Magitek armor model. He removed the cork, taking a swig. His proposal to Umi had left him a nervous wreck inside. Part of him was terrified that she was going to dismiss the idea, even though things had been going so well. The miqo'te sighed and plopped down on his bed, resting his elbows on his knees. As Ahz rubbed his eyes, thoughts of Umi's smiling face flooded into his mind. The way she cried with joy as he placed that ring on her finger... He smiled. "This's gonna turn ou' all righ'", he though to himself.

The male reached down to remove his shoes, tugging at them until they came free. He groaned as he rolled into bed, closing his eyes as his head hit the pillow. He had grown weary from all of the running around he and his bride-to-be had done that day. He had thought that they had returned together, but she might have been running errands or something along the like. He began to drift in and out of sleep, his eyelids growing more heavy as the minutes passed. He slept shortly after, and he dreamed.

It was dark. Ahza'to could hardly see anything in front of him. The only light was coming from far above, and it was faint. So, he did the only thing he could. He walked. He strode through the shadows, his hands out in front of him. He kept moving ever forward, not even questioning where he was. It all seemed familiar. Ahz stopped dead in his tracks. There was something in front of him: a door. A massive stone door sealed tight with various different chains and padlocks. There was a slit near the top, dark metal bars running up and down, some jutting out as if broken. As the young male approached, there came a loud boom from the other side. It happened again, only this time with a sound of steel on stone. Ahz took a step back and looked up. A pair of fierce orange eyes glowered down at him. The warrior took yet another step back, shock on his face. He was speechless. He had faced down voidlords and dragons, so why was this so absolutely terrifying? As he was trying to get a grasp of the situation, a menacing voice came from the other side of the stone portal.
"You cannot cage me forever. You will lower your guard some day. And when you do, I will be waiting."

Ahza'to jolted awake in a cold sweat. He brought a hand up to his chest, struggling for breath. "Wha' in th' seven 'ells was tha...?" he mused to himself. He stood up shakily and walked over to his wash basin. Ahz washed his face and stood there, hands on the dresser. He knew what it was. He just didn't want to think about it anymore. The warrior moved out into his office and sat at his desk before diving into paperwork. He could use the distraction.

[Umi]

Umi walked in, yawning widely. She hadn't meant to be out this late, but Raya-O-Senna had called her over the linkshell shared between the other white mages, herself, and her younger brother, A-Ruhn-Senna. Apparently, there had been some vast upset in the forest near the Sylphlands, a conflict between the touched sylphs and the refugees still trickling in from Ul'dah's territories here and there.

The aftermath had left the spirits in an uproar, it seemed, and though Umi had vaguely sensed it, she was too far from the forests to be able to tell for sure now that Ahz had returned to her. Raya still lived in the Black Shroud with her brother, near where Umi's cottage had been, and as such, was on-scene to detect most of these anomalies as soon as they occurred. She had contacted Umi with the details, and Umi had been forced to depart for Gridania immediately, hurrying into the Shroud to the heart of the conflict.

Once they had managed to help the Flames and the Wood Wailers quell the fighting, the white mages set to work soothing the enraged spirits. It was a lot of work, and their numbers were few, but once it was done, Umi had taken the nearest aetheryte back to Limsa, too tired to wait for an airship, and wanting only to fall into Ahz's arms and go to sleep.

His proposal earlier had surprised her beyond anything, though she supposed with how things had been between them, she should have expected it. She was glad she didn't, as the pleasant shock of it had hit her straight in the heart, bringing out tears of joy, a much better reaction than if she'd been waiting for it, she thought.

It had been in the perfect place, the cliff they had visited countless times to tend to their mothers' graves and bring flowers to, and he had done it in the most perfect way, especially with a ring made by his own expert hand. She couldn't have dreamed of a better setup for anyone, especially not them, not with everything they had been through together.

She now found the male at his desk, mulling over paperwork, something she'd only too happily begun taking over for him. She knew he hated it immensely, but there was something in the tension of his posture that gave her pause.

"Ahz...? Is everything all right...?" She walked up to the table, frowning down at her mate, now her fiancé as well.

[Ahza'to]

Ahza'to looked up from the documents, smiling as his eyes met Umi's. "Aye, love, everythin's fine. Jes' wanted t' lend a 'and a bit, tha's all." He stood up from his desk, walking around to greet her proper. The male wrapped his arms around the young mage's waist, nuzzling before pressing his lips to her's. Ahz released after a few moments, moving to the nearby cabinet to pull out some late night snacks. "Ye 'ungry? Picked up some cheese from Ul'dah, merch'nt said it was t' die fer." He cut some small slices off a large block, placing them on crackers. He knew that a white mage such as Umi would probably be able to help decipher the dreams he had been having, but with how busy she'd been lately, he didn't want to cause her any undue stress.

"Oh, by th' way..." the warrior started. "Got a contract in. Though' ye an' I coul' go knock it ou' t'morra if'n ye got nothin' else goin' on." The two of the had truly been quite busy lately. After Ahz had come down from spending time training up in the mountains with Stern, his master, he had almost immediately started taking high risk-high reward jobs to make up for all of the gil that had been spent on his trip. And with Umi focusing on her duties as a white mage and improving her Thyrus, they had little time to spend together. Ahza'to's brow furrowed at the thought. Things would be even busier now that the realm was shaken by recent events... Events he was sure Umi knew nothing about. And he intended to keep it that way. The miqo'te beckoned his mate to the table, sitting down himself to partake in the food.

"'Ow was yer day, love?" he asked, popping a cheese cracker into his mouth.

[Umi]

Umi pursed her lips, "Better than yours, if that posture at the desk was any indicator." She sat down beside the male anyways, picking up a cheese cracker and popping it into her mouth, not really wanting to talk about the recent problems with her that had cropped up due to her delving into thaumaturgy a little farther than she'd intended. It was mostly why she was branching out to try other things now, to stay away from it and take her mind off the issues. "That merchant certainly wasn't lying about the cheese though, it's delicious." She took a long look at Ahz, taking his hand in hers and rubbing it, just enjoying being beside him once more.

"Do tell me about your day, Ahz, I'm all ears." The general consistency of his vibe seemed off. Especially at this hour, he would normally have been passed out, or if he'd been waiting for her, he'd be dragging her to bed as soon as she walked in. He couldn't sleep, clearly, and she wondered what was wrong. It couldn't be loneliness, as they'd been apart a long time already, and sleeping alone was an activity they were both accustomed to. No, something was amiss.

She felt guilty, knowing she had problems too that she preferred not to discuss, but it seemed like he had a world of his own on his shoulders.

[Ahza'to]

Ahza'to squeezed Umi's hand back, running his thumb over her's and smiling as he chewed his food. "T'was nothin' worth mentionin'." He moved his free hand comically as he spoke, "Slayin' voidlords, tamin' beasties, savin' kingdoms. Ye know, th' usual." The male's smile faded slowly as he saw that Umi wasn't amused in the slightest. It was worth a try, anyway. His hopes of dealing with this himself were fading quickly. Ahz sighed, running a hand down his face. "Look, I've jes' been 'avin' odd dreams. Sometimes they wake m' up in th' nigh'." He leaned towards his fiancée, pecking a kiss on her cheek. "Ye've go' 'nough goin' on tha' ye needn' worry 'bout me."

That much was true. He really wanted to handle this issue himself, at the most contacting Stern and his ilk over it. They may have some clue as to why these nightmares would be happening. "So, tell me. Why're ye ou' so late? S'not like ye. Everythin' alrigh'?" With Eorzea in frequent conflict, he worried about his mate fiercely. A part of him knew that she could take care of herself for the most part, but his instincts always wailed in protest when she made mention of being gone for longer than a couple of nights. Hells, not even two nights past he nearly lost his life fighting back Dravanian in Coerthas. They were getting very aggressive as of late. But, of course, there was no way he was going to mention that to Umi.

"So, ye gonna tell me 'ow yer day was or'm I gonna 'ave t' coax it outta ye'?" Ahz cooed at her playfully.

[Umi]

Umi twisted her mouth at him at the last part, pecking him back close to the eye, where she knew would make him flinch back a bit. She grinned.

"I told you, Raya-O-Senna convened the conjurers. Apparently, there was a mass amount of turmoil in the Shroud that needed to be dealt with urgently. So many refugees from Ul'dah..." She propped an elbow on the table with her head resting on her hand, chewing thoughtfully on another cracker she slipped into her mouth. After a moment, her eyes narrowed slightly on her mate, "But don't think I've forgotten that other thing! Just because I get called away for one little job and I'm running around starting all these other things I have no business doing doesn't mean I can't worry and try to help you. You jump to the top of my list when you need help, always."

She nodded firmly, her ears flicking back in confirmation, "So you tell me... because the Twelve know I need some direction to head in instead of just wherever the wind takes me that day. With me being so far away most of the time, Raya rarely calls me except when it's really important. We have plenty of other conjurers and white mages in the Shroud that she can pull for everything else. I've really just been keeping myself busy in between those really important jobs since we returned to Limsa." She rested a hand on his, squeezing it lightly, letting her lips form a pleading little pout in his direction.

[Ahza'to]

Ahza'to squeezed back. He was known for being stern by most would be employers and fellow adventurers. He could be unkind, even downright merciless at times, but not when it came to Umi. She could play him like a fiddle more often than not, and that pout is what usually did the trick. The miqo'te sighed, attempting to fight a grin and failing. His mate nearly always got what she wanted, and this instance wasn't any different.

"Alrigh'." he said as he ran a hand across his face. "I've been havin'... dreams. Odd ones. Dunno wha' they mean, don' really care t' know." Ahz ran a hand through Umi's long hair, leaning in to plant a sweet, slow kiss on her lips. "Don' you worry 'bout it none. An' as far as jobs go..." He reached across the table, sliding a folder towards the female. "Ishgard. They're needin' help with... a problem they're havin'." His expression hardened, his brow furrowing. "Th' Dravanian're gettin' antsy." He was absolutely not keen on putting his love in undue danger, but at this rate, he wouldn't be able to hide it from her for long. It was becoming news and word had spread throughout Revenant's Toll and beyond.

"Now, this's m' contract. I'm gonna give ye two options. Ye can tear it apart righ' 'ere, righ' now an' I'll nae go back. Or, if yer so inclined, ye can go with me. If tha' 'appens, then ye hafta do exac'ly wha' I say while we're there. No questions, no sass, no poutin'." Ahza'to's expression grew even more serious, the corners of his mouth tugging downward. "This'll be life n' death. Mebbe jes' as bad as Cart'neau." He watched Umi expectantly, his eyes locked on hers.

[Umi]

Umi glared at him for both the dreaming comment and the bit about sass and pouting.

"First off, I won't forget your dream. But we'll discuss it later. Second, you act as though the battlefield is new to me, or that there would be any question as to whether or not I would go with you." Her ears flicked backwards, "I know what we're getting into, and though I don't want to risk a day like what happened at Carteneau again... I'm certainly not letting you go up against a bunch of Dravanians without me to pull your butt out of the figurative fire... and maybe the literal one, too."

Thyrus hummed on her back, its modified red jewel glowing as though to accentuate her point.

[Ahza'to]

Ahza'to squeezed the bridge of his nose. There was no talking Umi out of anything once she made up her mind. He really didn't want to concern her with his nightmares, but it was looking like he was going to get any slack until he did. And he didn't really want her mind wandering on the battlefield. She had seemed distracted enough as it was lately. "I suppose I don't have much of a choice." the male thought to himself.

"Alrigh'... I get yer poin'. 'Bout both o' those. I ain' sayin' ye cannae handle yerself in a figh'. Its jes'... this's gonna be bad. Jes' as bad as Cart'neau. I worry." Ahz let his hands rest on Umi's thighs, his gaze falling at her chin. "An' 'bout th' dreams... Its jes' a big gate 'r door. Stone. Lots o' chains n' locks n' such. Its dark all 'round, th' door 'as a slit with bars on it. There's somethin' inside, somethin' big. Sometimes it talks t' me. Sometimes it stares." Ahz felt a shiver go down his spine. He had never put much thought into it before, and now that he had, he found it unsettling. He looked back up at his mate expectantly. He was really hoping she wouldn't take the dreams as something more.

[Umi]

Umi sighed, settling into his arms, "Well, I can't make sense of them right off the bat, but if they're persistent, they must mean something."

She pondered for a moment before shaking her head, "I suppose only time will tell on those. As for your Dravanians... Carteneau or not, we'll look out for each other like we always have. I won't have you throwing yourself into this alone. If it's bad enough that people will die, that we could die, I'd much rather be with you in our final moments than at home waiting for some stranger to tell me you've been killed.

"Mom strongly believed that in war, family stays together. The only place she wanted her loved ones, her mother, sisters, was beside her fighting. Even the ones who didn't fight so well provided support, and the family protected each other. I want to protect you the way you want to protect me, and the best way for us both to do that is not for me to forbid you from going, it's not for you to go without me, it's for us both to go and fight together. I need you to understand that, because I swear, Ahza'to Pahlme, if you try to leave me behind, there WILL be Hells to pay!"

Her eyes were bright and glittering at this point, her ears flattening.

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