Faith - Kain Highwind x Reader (FFIV)

XI. How much worse can this get?

After the morning had arrived, you two had started wandering further towards Ternes, the next village that was said to have been attacked by the dark energy. The sun seemed to shine a little fainter than yesterday and instead, more clouds started covering the sky. The atmosphere turned tenser the closer you got to the small town. You had promised yourself, for the sake of your mission, to banish your feelings of joy back into a corner of your heart to focus on the clearly more important matter. Fortunately, your plan did work, as you concentrated on coming up with ideas on how to conquer whatever was awaiting you.

Suddenly, Kain spoke up, as calm as ever. "(Y/N), there is a camp over there." He pointed towards a few tents and soon you noticed that there were many people gathered at said spot. Squinting your eyes, you pondered what their reason was, as you tried to make out what was in the distance behind the newly found encampment. A gasp uncontrollably escaped your mouth, recognizing that the black silhouette of houses behind the tents must have been Ternes. So had the villagers fled their actual home? "Let's go." You quietly responded, full of determination.

Once you arrived right in front of the camp, several heavily armed people gathered in front of you, preventing you from getting any closer. Their faces were covered by anxious expressions, as they attempted to scare you away. Of course, it didn't have any impact on neither Kain nor you. Clearing your throat, you softly announced yourself to calm these people. "Please do not be afraid of us. I am the Holy Priestess (Y/N) (L/N) and I have come here to cleanse whatever darkness has befallen your village." As soon as you spoke those words, the humans appeared to notice your outfit, widening their eyes. One man with dark red hair quickly bowed, lowering the sword he was holding. "We are so sorry for acting rudely in front of you Lady (L/N)! Please forgive us!"

Gently shaking your head, you put on a small smile, gesturing for him to straighten his back once more. "It is quite all right. Instead, would you perhaps be so kind to update me on your situation?" You asked, as the unknown man stood up again. He quickly nodded, leading you and Kain over to a bigger tent. Once you had gone inside, you and your traveling buddy patiently waited for the red haired male to start explaining the obvious crisis.

"My name is Adao and I am something like the village chief here. You see, a few days ago this weird black mist appeared and started growing inside of our village. It seems to turn people into monsters..." He held his chin for a second, a shiver running down his back. "You know, the residents that got close to that odd darkness immediately attacked others, acting extremely violent." You nodded along, understanding how grave the situation was. "I assume that led to you fleeing and camping outside of the village, did it not?" You carefully inquired. Adao's brows knit together, as his gaze dropped. "Yeah, that's true..." This whole incident seemed to have hit the residents very hard, which caused the determination inside of you to grow, as you felt bad for them. "Don't worry, I will take care of it. Do you have an idea though where the center of this dark energy might be?"

The red haired male shortly averted his gaze, lost in thought. "Probably near the river. It's in the back of the village from our current position." You moved your head up and down, now turning to Kain. The Dragoon silently looked at you but his posture was enough for you to tell that he was ready for the task. "All right then Adao, if you don't mind, we will depart." Shooting a glance over your shoulder at the other man, his head cocked up as he hastily interrupted you, "Who is that man? Isn't he going to turn into another victim of the mist?" You gently shook your head, clarifying, "Don't worry, he is my partner and bodyguard in this matter. He is strong enough to take care of himself."

Adao seemed to hesitate but wordlessly accepted your explanation. You nodded at Kain, he returned the gesture and followed you outside again. The two of you moved through the crowd of the camp, eventually leaving everyone behind, as you approached Ternes. Before actually stepping onto its territory though, you stopped, turning around to face Kain. "Well, while you are very talented in terms of your profession, I do need to offer you some protection against the mind control of the darkness. Let's see..." You took out your short staff from the side of your belt and pointed it towards the Dragoon, who seemed to stay as relaxed as before, even with you pointing a weapon at him. "Don't worry, this time I won't need direct skin contact." You laughed to yourself. "That is usually only used for spells that are supposed to last longer. Because it is directly transferred to your body it withstands the test of time a little better. However, since we don't have an eternity to spare here anyway, a normal shield will do just as fine." You illustrated. Afterwards, your lips parted and you started mumbling to yourself, casting a spell onto Kain. A short light emitted from your staff, which then went over to the Dragoon, softly forming a sort of capsule around him, serving as a shield.