The Shield and the Blossom
"Ugh," Gladio groaned as heavy eyelids slowly opened only to be greeted by complete darkness. Picking up the phone he glanced at the time – seven in the morning. Damn! He had overslept. Sitting up, Gladio rubbed both of his eyes. This perpetual darkness disoriented him - not knowing the difference between morning and night. He had started waking up at odd hours and without dawn ever breaking over the horizon he found himself sleeping in past his desired wake-up calls. Forcing himself out of bed, he slipped on a pair of pants and his black tank top. Gladio shoved a couple bottles of water and several power bars into a sack. After hoisting the sack over his shoulder, he grabbed his sword and clicked on his flashlight. With a heavy hand, he swung the door open, nearly smacking it into a small figure who had been standing behind it.
"Iris?" Groggy eyes and a hazy mind left him in a state of confusion. That was until the small beam of light bounced off the blade by her side. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"I'm coming with!" His little sister's eyes danced full of anticipation. Her large grin only served to amplify her naivety of not fully knowing the implications of her brash decision. Especially with a sword that appeared to be the same size as her.
"No, you're not," he blurted out as he pushed passed her. With his back turned toward her, Gladio failed to notice the hurt in her soft brown eyes and her pouty lip curling out. As he descended the staircase, light footsteps chased after him with the accompanying scrapping and plopping of metal against each step. "Where did you even get that anyway? And who was greedy enough to sell a perfectly good sword to an inexperienced schoolgirl?"
"I bought it with my own money," she announced proudly while conveniently not addressing Gladio's other concern.
"It's too big. Have you even tried to swing it?"
Gladio's skeptical tone suggested the rhetorical nature of the question though Iris failed to take the hint.
"I can swing it. Well, it is a bit heavy. Actually I fell on my butt afterwards. But with practice and strength building I'll be okay. Like you! It took you a while to effectively use your broad sword…"
"Enough, Iris!" Gladio bellowed, hitting his free fist against the wall. "None of this is a game! Don't you realize that! Daemons have free reign over the world now. There's no stopping them. No light for us to seek refuge in. Dozens of people are dying every day because of The Darkness. I can't keep you safe if I'm stuck babysitting you all the time!"
"Then teach me to take care of myself!"
The determination in her voice halted Gladio in his tracks. He turned to face a sea of emotions – fear, anger, desperation, vulnerability.
"Gladdy, you have got to quit treating me like a kid," Iris pleaded. She blinked back tears, determined to not appear weak. "I get these are uncertain times. Many people have already lost hope. I hear them talk about it…that no one knows if Prince Noctis will ever come back. But I do believe he will return, and I know he's counting on us to be here when he does."
Iris closed the gap between them, still handling her new possession clumsily in the process. She slipped her free hand into her brother's and squeezed reassuringly.
"I realize that you won't be around forever, Gladdy. Each time you leave for a hunt or go on patrol to survey just how bad it is out there…I know there's a chance you might not come back. I have come to terms with that, but I'm not going to just surrender to a death sentence. I want to fight for as long as possible and protect as many as I can until Prince Noctis brings the light back to the land. I've got to try. And…I need you to train me…so I don't have to rely on anyone else…or I can just ask Prompto if he'd train me…"
"Hell no! That's the big brother's job," Gladio snorted, crossing his arms as if completely offended. Subtle baiting was not Iris's forte and being eight years older Gladio could spot her manipulation attempts a mile away. Still it saddened him that his kid sister did have to grow up; he just wish it wasn't so soon. His hardened expression softened as he wrapped a protective arm around Iris's shoulder. "Fine, I'll train you. I won't go easy on you though. If you're going to learn to fight you'll learn the correct way. And we're returning this piece of shit and get you a more suitable weapon. Got it!"
Iris dropped the sword and wrapped her arms around Gladio's thick, muscular torso.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I promise I won't let you down."
No, Little Sis, Gladio eyed her lovingly, imagining how proud their father would have been of her. That burden is on me.
Ok so I know this is a short fic but it felt right to keep it this way. I am considering doing a second part to the story though or perhaps a collection of sibling fics. We'll see where my inspiration goes.