Gulool Ja Ja's Legacy: A FFXIV Dawntrail Rewrite [Fanfiction]

Ch4: Valigarmanda, Freed

The two feats following the Feat of Reeds would be completed with little-to-no trouble. Of course, Wuk Lamat continued to lack interest in the rite of succession. Thus, the group meandered slowly on the road, within the caravan pulled by two lumbering rroneeks from place-to-place.

The Feat of Gold? Seeing as Wuk Lamat took good care of the two rroneeks pulling her caravan, one might assume that she would have no fear of alpacas. Not so, as the Warrior of Light would discover. Plagued by a childhood trauma of being spitted upon by an alpaca, Wuk Lamat was.

Still, with the help of Mablu, Wuk Lamat obtained a specially-crafted saddle that allowed her to tame a wild alpaca in a day, completing the Feat of Gold.

They came across Zoraal Ja, Sareel Ja, and Estinien again. The two siblings, Wuk Lamat and Zoraal Ja, acknowledged one another with a simple nod. Estinien remained silent as usual, while perpetually smoldering under the sun.

When Zoraal Ja returned with a golden alpaca, Estinien's raised eyebrow made Alisaie grumble to no end, in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

A rather concerning event prior to the Feat of Pots though, was Wuk Lamat's second encounter with Bakool Ja Ja. The two-headed Mamool Ja sabotaged their boat to the southern half of Kozama'uka.

"I swear," Alisaie had commented, "that Bakool Ja Ja has a thing for Wuk Lamat. It's almost as if... he's chosen to specially target us."

The Warrior of Light agreed, for to their knowledge, Bakool Ja Ja had yet to demonstrate similar behavior towards Wuk Lamat's siblings.

"It must be your lackadaisical attitude," Alisaie had said to Wuk Lamat. "Bakool Ja Ja, this bully, probably thinks of you as an easy target."

"Indeed," Alphinaud had nodded emphatically. "Bullies tend to take advantage of easy targets. Such as their twin sibling, for example."

The Warrior of Light also nodded emphatically at Alphinaud's words, which elicited a light slap from Alisaie.

"But I wonder...why? We have long fallen behind..."

That was true. Wuk Lamat had insisted on dragging her beloved caravan and the two rroneeks onto the boat to Kozama'uka, while complaining about the circumstances that forced them to use a riverboat in the first place.

As for the Feat of Pots? It was rather convenient that Wuk Lamat had briefly made an acquaintance with a goldsmith seeking a career revival in the New World.

Once Wuk Lamat recruited the goldsmith Fonjeantaine, the Feat of Pots was all but done. Wuk Lamat's lucky encounter with this desperate goldsmith helped them catch up to the other contestants' pace, to Alisaie's delight.

Just when the group intended to board Wuk Lamat's caravan and travel back to Urqopacha for the Feat of Proof with the Yok Huy, a stranger requested Wuk Lamat's assistance for a simple task. Only when Wuk Lamat failed to return after some time did the Warrior of Light sense something to be off.

They searched high and low, every nook and cranny in Earthenshire, yet failed to find even a shadow of the hrothgar.

It was then that they crossed paths with the Second Promise, Koana, along with Thancred and Urianger.

"You're still here?" Alisaie was shocked that the three weren't far ahead of their slow and lumbering caravan travel.

"Ah..." Thancred shrugged uncaringly. "Koana insisted upon examining and improving the tools of the Moblins."

"With better tools, the quality and quantity of work per time increases," Koana nudged his glasses and explained. "So, too, does the safety of the workers in cooperation with the Moblins increase, if given proper training to master said tools."