Title: "Battle for the Hindu Kush"
Author: Baliansword
Rating: T for Teen
Chapter: 1 of 9, "Speaking of Glory"
Pairings: Alexander / Hephaestion
Summary: Following the movie, what happens during and after the infamous battle for the Hindu Kush, with extra history hopefully thrown in.
Warnings: Mild language, sexual content, and violent battle scenes.
A/N: Welcome back everyone. Here I go again! I said that I would write something that was longer. This, hopefully, shall suffice.
Dedication: HavenRain, who is a fan.
H/N: This takes place during the battle for the Hindu Kush. If you are following the movie, it is the battle with the elephants. Following?
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Hephaestion shook his head back and forth for a moment. There were times when he could just sit and listen and the world stopped. This was one of these times. Alexander paced back and forth, waving his hands about, speaking about tomorrow's battle. Hephaestion raised the cup to his lips once more, drinking the warm tea he held, and continued to let his eyes follow Alexander. Alexander went on and on, and all the while, Hephaestion thought of the boy that he had fallen in love with. What a man that boy had become. There was no other in the world that he would rather be with. Never would he imagine trading a single moment of his life with Alexander for anything else.
"They will be fierce, yes," Alexander continued, and for a moment he even stopped his anxious pacing and looked at Hephaestion. His eyes sparkled, as they always did when he thought he could foresee the future. Hephaestion continued to stare at him admiringly. "But think of it Hephaestion! We have gone farther than our legendary heroes ever have dreamed existed. They will be fierce, yes, but challenging them in battle will be a tale to tell for centuries. It can be told to our children, and our children's children, until long after our bones are dust. It will be as all of the battles have been, but better. We'll succeed, Hephaestion, and we'll conquer what we never though was there!"
"Yes," Hephaestion said, nodding as he took another drink, draining his cup finally. He smiled at Alexander, who was always so excited. If he thought about death, he did not let it on. Hephaestion was never so joyous on the nights before a battle. He knew that young men would die, some that had not even been with a woman. Of course he knew this, but it weighed more on Hephaestion's mind.
"But think of it Hephaestion," Alexander went on. "Think of what we will be faced with, such a great feat. We will leap over it, with bounds! Never before has the Hindu Kush been invaded with such force, taken over by men that could not have traveled here prior, for we did not believe it could exist as others told us. Never has the Hindu seen such a force, and she never will again."
"Calm yourself Alexander," Hephaestion said with a pleased smile. How vain, or idealistic, Alexander could be at times. He'd found that he could not change him; he could not damper his mood by telling him the negatives to the battle that would take place the next day. "If you get yourself too excited, who knows, you may not make it to battle in the morning."
"What would I do without you," Alexander asked as he collapsed on the pile of furs next to Hephaestion. Hephaestion shrugged playfully, as if contemplating the question. After a quick second he leaned over and placed a quick kiss against his cheek. He then set his cup down and picked up a pad of crisp paper. Taking a pen, he began to sketch a map of the battle field as they hoped it work look tomorrow. Alexander watched him for a moment before he smiled at him once more. Hephaestion could draw these plans by heart, by memory; that was how well he knew these things.
"You would have to look at Cassander all day," Hephaestion teased. It was a joke between the two of them now. Cassander had always secretly vied for Alexander's attention. However, he learned that Alexander had eyes for only Hephaestion. From that moment on, he'd seemed a different child, and that child was now a man. A man, might be added, that was angry with the entire world it seemed. Alexander glanced over at him with a laugh in merely his eyes then shook his head. No, he wouldn't wish to trade Hephaestion for any other in the world.
He looked at Hephaestion, who was so different from the youth that he'd fallen in love with. Now, he was aged, but for the better it seemed. There were two scars on his face, one on his forehead and the other on his cheek. They were faint, but still visible, yet beautiful. He'd let the thick, dark hair on his cheeks and chin grow out, which was now a beard. Alexander could remember when he'd started this, when he stopped caring it seemed for his looks, which he had never been preoccupied with yet had always noted. It was shortly after Alexander had wed Roxanne, after he'd killed Cleitus. Shortly after these two events, Hephaestion had slowly slipped away it seemed, but at least now he was coming around. At least they were now talking to one another. There were still rough times, which Alexander always could sense, but he could still be optimistic. He could only imagine what was going through Hephaestion's minds at times.
"Do you worry about tomorrow," Alexander finally asked. He watched as Hephaestion's hand stopped and he grew stiff for a moment. Then, Hephaestion turned his head slightly, and offered him a hasty glance. Cerulean eyes met with Alexander's for a split second, but it was enough to let Alexander know that the words Hephaestion next spoke were not truth.
"I try not to think about it."
"Tell me," Alexander asked of him. It was such a simple request, or so he thought. Hephaestion set his pen down, and then sat back more. He was not sure whether or not he wished to discuss it. Yet, perhaps speaking would make it better. Perhaps if he said it, then all would be well, and at least Alexander would know what he was thinking. He drew in a short breath before the words began to spill out of his mouth. Of course he thought about it, and worried about it, for how could he not?
"I worry for you," were the words that left his mouth first. As he dipped his head down, long locks of his hair fell over his face. When he lifted his head, his eyes were glazed over with tears that he did not wish to fall. He held them back though, knowing these tears would help nothing, and he nodded once. "I try, as you tell me to each time, not to. But you can't replace that feeling, the one I get just before you a battle begins. It makes me sick sometimes, even though I don't show it, to know that you are on the same field."
"Phae," Alexander said as he placed a hand upon his cheek. "There is nothing to fear. There is only glory in our lives, because the gods will it. If I am to die, then it is their will, and dying will just be another goal to reach. Remember, my love. There is nothing to fear in this world."
Hephaestion nodded once more, knowing that there was not much more he could do. If he were to say more to Alexander, stating his concerns, then it would get them nowhere. He knew that he must be strong for them. Alexander depended on his strength. He needed it now, the night before a battle, perhaps more than he needed it in battle. Such a strength kept Alexander believing in himself, whether he believed it or not, for Alexander desperately (and secretly) needed someone to believe in him.
"Then tomorrow," he said instead, "we ask once more for glory."
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Alexander watched as Hephaestion left his room. As soon as Hephaestion was gone he turned to a desk and sat before it. He pulled out a piece of pulp and picked up a pen. He began to write, penning a letter to Hephaestion that he would never have to give him if all went well. He never gave him these letters, the ones which he wrote the night before battles. He would rip them up when they came back, before Hephaestion ever knew they existed. These letters were the answers to questions that would be asked if he fell in battle. What to do in the empire was written here. How to go on without him, it was written as well. Yet the most important thing, which was always written last, was that he loved him.
There was nothing else he could ever end with. He loved him now, and always had, and if there were one thing that Hephaestion needed to know it was that. As always, when he finished, he sealed the letter and took it with him to bed. He shoved it under his pillow and did not think of it again. Glory would come tomorrow. The moment that he began to think that this was not so, the gods would make that fear a reality.
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Hephaestion sat in his own tent, knowing full well that he could not remain in Alexander's tent. It was an agreement they had made. They would not be intimate before battle, and in such, they would come back if only to hold one another once more. Hephaestion lifted the cup to his lips and took another sip of wine. He hardly ever drank, for it did not sit well with him. There were reasons for this, ranging from the fact that it never went well with his stomach, and that he needed to be sober to get a drunken Alexander back to bed. He had to look out for Alexander, for no one else would. But tonight was different. Tonight he did not feel ashamed about his drinking. It perhaps even soothed him.
Glory; he thought about it for a moment. What was glory, something that all men searched for, and so few found? Was it fame, admiration, and honor given to those that were, or had done, something important. Or was it truly something that only could be given to deities? He took another sip of the burgundy wine and then set the cup down. There was no use in drowning a sorrow that was not there. He had to remind himself that nothing was wrong yet. Alexander was fine. He was fine. They had one more battle.
He said such to himself over and over before each battle. It was the last battle. There would be no more after this. However, with Alexander, there always seemed to be another battle. He glanced up as he heard pattering feet against the ground. A small puppy came into view, whimpering slightly, and fell upon Hephaestion's feet. Hephaestion reached down and lifted the black mutt onto his lap. The playful thing wagged its tail for a moment and bumped Hephaestion's cheek with his cold wet nose.
"I am glad to see you too Aristotle," Hephaestion said as the pup settled on his lap. The puppy calmly rolled onto its back and Hephaestion stroked him for a moment before the puppy was asleep. Hephaestion watched him sleep, this gift from Alexander, for some time before he lifted the puppy into his arms as he stood. He went to his bed, pulling back thick furs, and crawled beneath them. He brought Aristotle with him. At least he had someone to comfort him throughout the night.
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A/N: The next chapters will be longer, I promise. Chapter two will be from Alexander's PoV of the battle in the Hindu. Let me know what you think of this chapter if you get time. See you soon!
