Chapter One
Language: English
Rated: T-M
Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Drama/Friendship/Family/Angst/Humor
"I have fought alongside you thus far.
Once I came to know you, I knew I wanted to fight for you. Sire.
I devote myself to you, for your sake, not mine.
I am truly happy that you are my liege." -Kris to Marth
"Kris." Greil's gruff voice rang out in the forest; his foot falls coming to a stop as he gazed at the young Myrmidon. His gaze traveling up and down the young woman he tried to place her age once more but could not come up with an exact age, "Training again?" it has been almost two years since this strange female appeared into the lives of the Greil Mercenaries.
Wiping one of her finely shaped brow, trying to get the sweat from her gaze, she spoke in monotone,"Ah Greil-sama." Quickly standing to her full height she gave a salute, her ocean blue hair was held up in a high pony tail, it was of course greasy and dirty from her intense work out, her red coat was ripped in some places as well as covered in mud and drenched with sweat, her breast plate cracked ever so slightly as her shoulder guards looked ready to fall apart, her sorts were no longer their pristine white but a murky brown and her boots seemed to be at their end.
Greil couldn't help but sigh. This young woman showed an astounding amount of loyalty to her superiors. Himself, Titania, Shinon, Gatrie—though it seemed she was also fiercely protective of Mist even if she was always emotionless and provided a good challenge to Ike. Sighing a bit he motioned to her, "At ease…now…I would like to talk." He knew that this topic has not brought it up in the last year but once again it had reached that very day, the one day, one of his strongest members would vanish for a period of time to train or to contemplate, "I want you to tell me once again…why you always vanish on this day."
Sheathing her sword, Kris gazed silently at her superior before giving a stiff nod, "Very well…but it is as I always say, Greil-sama." Motioning she took a seat on a large rock, resting her elbows upon her knees she let her hands dangle between her legs, head tilted back to stare at the sky from beneath the giant leafy canopies, "I am from Akaneia, I hail from a small village known as Sera which is located at the very edge of Altea where I was raised by my grandfather Maclir." Taking a pause Kris let her eyes as dark and deep as her own ocean blue hair gaze at Greil, "…Sir?"
Greil was taking it in silently but his gaze of course was trained on Kris's trying to read her. After the two long years she has been with his band of Mercenaries he had finally gotten a knack of reading her, "Go on." Yes he remembered this part and has indeed looked into many books on the continent of Akaneia and Altea as well as the name of her grandfather. Closing his eyes his brows furrowed a bit, "A former knight of Altean from the front lines who was injured and forced to retire, but his loyalty to Altea was unmatched and was an old friend of Jagen, as well as true friend to the king Cornelius."
Kris stared at Greil her eyebrow raised ever so slightly. It seemed that Greil has been looking into the history texts—though from what she knows that was in the past—though she could not be so sure since her sense of time was disoriented the day she arrived and was found by Mist, "Yes." A small nod was given before she began to speak once more, "I joined the seventh platoon in the Altean knights along with fellow knights and an aspiring taction. Their names were Rody, Ruke and Katarina." Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it Kris continued slower, her voice becoming slightly more monotonous than normal, "A year after Prince Marth returned from his quest is when I enlisted and from then on I was his most trusted and loyal knight, his friend and confidant."
A hard stare was given towards Kris from Greil as he listened to her, 'Her voice wavered a bit…it seems there might be more to it.' Grunting a bit he pushed himself away from the tree he was leaning back against to take a seat next to Kris on the dirt floor, "…Just a friend?" now he was pushing his boundaries but it was important.
"My lord married princess Shiida or here her name would be pronounced Caeda of Talys." Gaze straying from the sky to glance at Greil the young knight continued, "He is my lord and I am his faithful knight-..." pausing and then glancing down a small tired smile came across her face, "I shall always be faithful and loyal to my lord Marth but I am here now, I am loyal to you Greil-sama."
Now this wasn't what he had in mind for this conversation but he had to get the truth and story once more. Taking a large gloved hand he placed it on Kris's head, "I know. If you ever had the chance to return would you take it?"
"Yes. I would return in an instant to my lord." Kris responded with a strong tone, her gaze was steady as she removed the hand from her head.
"If you were to see Marth once more while with myself and the others what would you do? Return to his side then and there?" now he knew he was not being far but being a leader one had to act like a bad guy to protect the ones they held dear. Greil knew that…for better and for worse he knew that.
Kris stiffened ever so slightly as she gazed at Greil, flashes of her friends and her lord crossed her mind but the faces of the Greil Mercenaries were there as well. Glancing down at the dirt she brought her gloved hand to her chest and placed it over her heart, "…That…I cannot answer just yet…" in all honesty she could not for when she saw Norne in her mind she also saw Mist but when she saw Marth she also saw Ike. Faces overlapped or their personas stood next to each other in her mind.
Greil gave a soft sigh as he stood, brushing his hair back, and "Very well. I won't push it…we can continue later, Kris." Of course he had stopped the conversation once he heard footsteps rushing down the dirt path and once he looked up he saw none other than his eldest child and only son Ike, "Ike."
"Dad! I finally found you." Ike was slightly out of breath as he took in the appearance of his father, "Dad—whoa! Kris!" it was the one woman he idolized in a way next to his father. Kris was strong and loyal it sort of reminded him of Soren with less temper and a cold personality—well more emotionless. Clearing his throat a bit he took in the elder girl's appearance, "Training?"
"I am done now." Kris gave a small rare smile towards Ike before glancing at Greil, "…It seems you are about to train together. I'll be taking my leave…" glancing down at herself Kris frowned slightly, "It seems I must ask Oscar to fix my armor and coat…as well as take a bath."
Ike was a bit stunned from the smile but turned slightly red as he took in the state of her appearance, "E-Erm…r-right! Dad! I want to spar! Let's train!" turning quickly enough that his red hair bandana (Which was folded back) smacked him in the face causing him to look flustered as his father chuckled and Kris seemed amused, "...Ugh…"
Greil decided to take another course just then as he glanced at Kris, "Kris. Stay and watch this training session, after all you are also Ike's training partner other than myself and Boyd."
"Understood." Kris gave a nod as she glanced at Ike, "Let this training session sink into your mind and soul-…as well as your bones." Glancing to the side as she felt Ike glare at her for that last comment, Kris took a seat trying to ignore the feeling of being sweaty, dirty, and grimy—wait…were those the same thing? Who knows…
Ike glanced at his father and gave a small whisper, "Dad…shouldn't you let her go back and wash up? I mean…Kris seems a bit uncomfortable."
Now that caught Greil's attention as he gave a small smirk towards his son, "So…you actually take notice and consider Kris a girl? I believe that is a first for you, Ike." Oh the expression his normally emotionless son gave just then made his day. It seemed only Kris, Mist, Soren and himself could get different reactions from Ike…maybe it was a good thing he allowed the mystery that is Kris to join—wait. Recalling the information he has always known and was just given once more he let his gaze slide towards Kris, '…It isn't known by many but the story of the "Hero of Shadows" was a loyal knight to King Marth, her story untold…it seems she was not lying…' but how could this be? After all…it's been many, many years since that story was it not?
"Dad?" Ike followed his father's intense gaze back to Kris and gave a small frown. The gaze his father gave was contemplating also filled with trust shifting to distrust, 'What is going on?'
"Ike. Give me a wooden sword." Greil decided to put it to the back of his mind for now and train his son. He was still inexperienced but Greil knew he had potential; after all he was the child of Elena and himself.
"Right." Ike tossed his father one of the wooden swords he carried and got into an offensive stance, his gaze becoming determined as well as blank. His mind focused on one thing and that was to train and better himself.
"En Guard."
"Hyah!"
Kris let her gaze become steady on the sparing match before her. This was training for her as well after all it was her duty to keep an eye on the younger generation on orders of Greil and to help Ike become the best he could be. Keeping her gaze on Ike she took in each of his movements the flawed ones to the experienced motions to the unsure ones, 'Ike has the potential…' thinking back on it a sad smile crossed her face, 'Just like my lord, Marth…'
Unknown to her at that moment she gave a sad smile Ike had seen it causing his concentration to faultier just a bit, 'That expression…' he has seen it on his father's face many times and it caused him to shift into defense as his father took his momentary distraction to get on the offence, 'I'll make sure that she is to busy to have that expression again.'
"Ike focus on the battle, not on Kris."
"Tch!"
Greil could not help but chuckle a bit as he saw his son began to put more force into his attacks, 'Well guess he is motivated.' Now it was time to knock some lessons into his son…he was going to have fun with this.
-Yuri's Corner-
Edit: 4:51 PM, 3/24/2013: Did I miss any more grammar and choped sentences by accidental backspaces? Please let me know if you spot any!
Okay everyone who has stuck with this first chapter till the very end I thank you! This more of an introduction and prolouge I suppose for the fanfiction. Since the next chapter will start at the very starting cut-scene of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. Now to answer some questions I am sure some are wondering!
I am using My Unit/Kris from Fire Emblem: Shin Monsho no Nazo ~Hikari to Kage no Eiyu~ informally translated as Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem ~Heroes of Light and Shadow~ which was sold in Japan but the DS game can be bought on playasia though it is Japanese encrypted/protected and can only work on a Japanese Nintendo DS/3DS and is a remake of the original game Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.
I am going to use her default looks since after much debate of either using the male or female...I went with female. Her appearance can be seen on the fire Emblem Wikia and as the icon for the fanfiction-an english translation patch of the game was released last year I believe by fans and if you want the website to DL it just PM and I can give it to you.
Now onto the story! This will of course be following Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance from start to finish with a few twist and turns since this is a Paper Clip fanfiction with a character insert instead of an OC and/or SI/OC. Kris's class is Myrmidon as it is the female default class while the male's is mercenary and I just like Myrmidon class a lot myself. Now in Fire Emblem: Awakening if you got the latest DLC content where it has Rufure/Robin and Chrom's band of Shepard battling against all the cards and you are using the female Robin/Rufure and have her engage in battle with King Marth and not Prince Marth (Though Prince Marth will ask Lucina why she is dressed like him if she battles him) King Marth will start a conversation with female rufure/robin stating she reminds him of Kris (It is implied) and that he is worried for her as she has not apperead to battle and that she is his soul mate while denying that he loves her...and for me I like Marth/Kris (Male or Female) better than him with Shiida/Caeda but I'll of course go with him being married to the Princes of Tylas for this...and er did I get off topic? Not sure...
Anyways in my mind I wanted this to be Ike/Kris perhaps but that is just me. I won't do anything couplewise for a while and I do take my readers opinions to heart as well when it comes to romances and what not. Now I'll go into a bit of detail about Kris.
Mind you the information is directly copied and pasted from the Fire Emblem Wikia
The Avatar is a youth from Sera Village of Altea who joins the Altean Knights one year after the end of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon along with Katarina. The prologue of Shin Monshō no Nazo covers the Avatar's rise from a rookie knight to one of Marth's personal guard. By the end of the prologue, they are a member of the 7th platoon of Altean Knights. Their eventual fate is to become the "Hero of Shadow", Marth's confidant and friend who holds no record in history. This unit joins the 7th platoon, along with Rody, Ruke and Katarina.
The Avatar's personality is a straightforward one, rarely showing emotion (especially for the male Avatar) except for embarrassment because of Samto or Palla, or, in the male Avatar's case, strong bond with Katarina after their reunion in Chapter 16x. His/her most notable trait, however, is his/her unwavering loyalty to his/her superiors, almost blindly serving Prince Marth. He/she is so dedicated to Marth that even Marth himself questions why the Avatar is so loyal to him.
Through base conversations, it is revealed that he/she draws heavy inspiration from their grandfather, Maclir, he/she is a terrible cook (according to Shiida and himself, his food tastes like steel), he/she is a childhood friend of Norne, and he/she is extremely loyal to their superiors (notably Frey, Jagen, Shiida, and especially, of course, Marth).
The female Avatar can become more than friends through these conversations with Gordin, Horace, Warren, Wolf, Linde and Jeorge. The male Avatar, on the other hand, can grow that kind of bond with Katarina, Norne, Catria, Malice, Malliesia and, Athena and even flirts with Feena, despite admitting to Samto that he is no good with girls. despite his claim though, many of the women in the game become infatuated with him despite his oblivious behavior.
Well thanks for reading! I'd love some R&R!
