A Vow of Unity

A/N: A bit of a preview of sorts, i wanted to go ahead and submit this, that way when I got home, I could make the necessary adjustments and give a proper summary. And ignore the 'dont delete' at the end. Im'm using my tablet, so i cant edit the document like I had hoped. So that'll be there a while until I can edit that out. As always, your feedback is important! Did ya like it? Somethin bug ya about it? Let me know! Until then, I guess that's all for now.

Til next time!

~shine

Disclaimer: I do not own Grand Chase, though I would certainly like to. All I own is this plot. I seek to gain no profit from writing this, except to increase my writing skill and to entertain those reading this.

As fierce ruby eyes stared into serene yellow, there was no doubt in the Ruby Knight's mind that this was the feeling she'd always wanted. She could do without the tightness in her chest and the rapid beating of her heart, however. But this feeling, this…calmness amidst a world of inner turmoil was what she wanted. Stability was another thing, but that was granted by her comrades. She was always told since she was a girl that the person who could bring peace to her mind just by staring into their eyes was truly the one she was meant to be with. That was how her parents had met, apparently, and now…

Elesis felt her cheeks heating up the longer she stared. She could find no words to describe the beauty staring back at her; her long strands of lemon yellow hair falling to tickle her cheek. "Lire…" She started slowly, trying to swallow the rising lump in her throat. Lire stared curiously at her, wondering what could cause the normally bull-headed girl to become so flustered. She hadn't caught Elesis doing anything perverted, to her knowledge, and it wasn't all that uncommon for her to check on the girl as often as she did. Elesis stumbled to the side to let the girl into her tent and Lire entered, chuckling softly at the ruby haired knight's expense.

"You're acting kind of odd today. Did something happen?" Lire asked, tilting her head ever so slightly as she eyed the girl. Elesis fought back her blush as it threatened to redden. Why did Lire have to be so cute sometimes? Even the tiniest things she did be it giggling at Ryan's terrible jokes or simply sitting there and making flower crowns that matched everyone's eye color. Elesis still had hers, if she were to be completely honest. She always wore it when she was alone in her tent where no one could see her.

"Hello? Ele?" Lire called, snapping the redhead out of her thoughts. Elesis couldn't fight back the embarrassed blush that spread across her face just then and she simply shook her head. Lire frowned slightly. "Seriously, what is wrong with you lately? You avoid me as if I had some kind of disease, you ignore me when I talk to you, and you daydream almost all the time when someone's trying to talk to you."

"I'm fine. I just…have a lot on my mind lately. Being in Xenia-the land of the gods-is a lot to take in." Ele said. Lire nodded her understanding. She could understand that much. She'd been surprised herself when they first arrived. It was far from the beautiful place she had been told of as a child. It was as if some form of calamity had struck the place and was slowly moving inward until it covered the entire land. A number of gods already fell to the mysterious blight, Samsara, by far the largest god they knew of, was the first of many of those gods, having his temple situated not far from their landing point. "And then there's that guy who claims to be my ancestor, and that other one who somehow knew one of my family's techniques."

"That was shocking, I'll admit. To think that the legendary gladiator still lives. That's not something you hear of very often, but it's not exactly rare either." Lire explained with a nod. She seemed to be the resident know-it-all when it came to things like this. Even Arme had trouble wrapping her head around it, and it took Lire's explanation for them to finally understand. "How does it feel to know that your ancestor is right outside this very tent amongst our friends?"

"Awkward. What would I even talk to him about? There's so many things to ask, and yet most, if not all of it might bring back sore memories. He may be a legend, but he's still human." Elesis said, frowning now. She was relieved that the subject switched from her so easily and she let out a soft sigh as she plopped down on her bedroll.

Lire sat beside her silently and watched as Elesis animatedly began talking about the rest of their motley crew. Lire felt a small smile spread across her face as Elesis' expression changed quite rapidly with her words, and she couldn't help but notice how cute Elesis actually was. She always hid it beneath a rough exterior, but Elesis was actually a bit of a dork. Lire couldn't help but giggle at that though, just as Elesis grabbed her pillow from beside her and held it out in front of her as if it were a person. She stopped at the sound the blonde elf made and looked at her curiously. "What's got you all giggly?" Elesis asked.

"Nothing, nothing. Go on ahead." Lire said dismissively. Elesis shrugged and went back to what she was talking about before, and Lire continued her assessment of the redhead, paying attention only enough so that she wouldn't feel ignored.

Elesis wasn't the type to accept help from others, preferring to get herself out of her own messes...which in turned got her into an even bigger mess in the process. Lire was usually the one that could get away with helping her out, since she stuck close to the girl anyway. She always did wonder why she was much lighter on her than she was to anyone else, especially Arme. But she let it go, thinking Elesis just saw her as a greater asset. It was honestly quite hard to tell what the girl thought of her sometimes.

However, that wasn't to say Elesis was a terrible person. She was actually quite nice. She protected the others in her own way, even though she trusted in them and their abilities. Sometimes she would jump in the way of an attack on purpose to buy more time to prepare something extra powerful, or she would save the day with an enraged shout and tapping into a power she didn't even know she had. That was a majority of Elesis' skills, to be honest. She had tapped into a potential she never would've realized if she hadn't joined the Chase. From perfecting her Mega Slash technique to unlocking the ultimate skill of her swordsmanship: Bravery, Elesis was like a wellspring of untapped potential waiting to be discovered. And it was that potential that brought out the best in everyone else as well.

Lire couldn't count the times when she had to overcome her fear of losing one of her dearest friends and pulling out an elven skill that was more powerful than she could handle. From Stardust Rain to Void Shot, all of Lire's fears and doubts in her abilities as an archer and as an elf were put to the test when Elesis' life was on the line. It hadn't taken very long for the elf to realize that her desperation was partially out of love and respect for the human girl who came charging into her life (figuratively) raring and ready to conquer the world if it meant finding her father again.

Yes, Lire was deeply in love with Elesis. So much so that she found joy just in seeing the redhead laughing and joking with the others, or even fighting with Arme over something childish like sweets. She loved her, and the distance between them could not be breached. She would outlive the girl by many generations, not to mention their lives wouldn't exactly be very easy together for the simple fact that same-sex relationships were one of many taboos, not to mention she would be cast out of her home if she so much as fantasized about a human.

And boy what fantasies they were.

Lire couldn't help herself when it came to Elesis. Just the thought of running her hands through the girl's hair and placing her lips upon hers was enough to make the girl blush madly and fidget whenever the other girl was near. She wanted to touch her. To feel her lips on hers, to know what great secrets her body held for her lover to discover. She wanted to be that person. The explorer that looked upon her body as the next great adventure.

But it could never be.

"U-um...Lire? What are you doing?" Elesis asked, breaking the elf from her thoughts as she looked over at the redhead curiously. "You're squeezing my hand. Really hard." Elesis commented, looking down at their hands which had somehow become intertwined. Lire hadn't noticed that and blushed heavily, jerking her hand back and sputtering out an apology. Before Elesis could say that she didn't mind, Lire beat a hasty retreat, apologizing all the while.

Elesis looked down at her hand with a slight frown. "Is holding my hand really that disgusting?" She wondered aloud. Groaning and feeling stupid for bringing it up, Elesis flopped down on her bedroll and decided she'd best get some sleep. she didn't feel very hungry now, and it smelled like dinner was almost ready. With a frustrated groan, she fell asleep.

The days following the incident, Lire made it a point to stay well away from Elesis, despite the girl wanting to know what was going on. The more she avoided her, however, the more frustrated Elesis became until at last she blurted out, "Why are you avoiding me?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched the two girls, Elesis, who was upset, had grabbed onto Lire's wrist before she could escape a safe distance away. "Ele, please! I have to go...!"

"Why? You've been ignoring me and avoiding me for almost a damn week now! What is going on!" Elesis nearly growled out. Lire didn't say anything, merely struggled to free herself from the redhead's tightening grip. "I'm not letting you go until you tell me why you're ignoring me. Why did you leave so quickly! Is holding my hand really that wrong?"

Blushing now, Lire stopped. "You wouldn't understand." She said finally, sighing heavily. Yanking from Elesis' grip finally, Lire walked away. Stunned, the redhead stood there blinking. Ronan, who had a small smile on his face as he watched them, approached the redhead and patted her on the shoulder. He led Elesis away, leaving the others to wonder just what was going on. All except the Sieghart male who whistled a jaunty tune while pretending to nap.

Just as Elesis was about to ask the cerulean knight what he wanted with her, he finally asked, "Ele, what do you think of Lire?" He took a seat on a nearby log, patting the seat next to him. Elesis took it and shrugged.

"I don't know, she's pretty decent I guess? I mean, at first she was pretty annoying, always sticking her nose in other people's business. But she's not so bad now. She's a good person, and someone that always has your back." Elesis explained. Ronan nodded slowly, taking in her words. "I just don't get her sometimes. She's always hanging so close by, but the moment I try and ask her something or talk to her, she withdraws so fast it's like she wasn't even there! It's frustrating!"

"So if you could talk to her, what would you say?" Ronan asked.

"Nothing. I have more questions to ask, than anything to say to her personally." Elesis replied honestly. Ronan nodded again. "Why are you asking me this stuff anyway? It's not like it's any of your business."

"Well, with you shouting out your business in the middle of camp, you kinda made it everyone's business, Ele." Ronan replied simply. He chuckled at her blush and waved off any comment she could have made afterwords, cutting her off with, "But regardless of whose business it is, I can't just stand by and do nothing. If it means a lot to you to know what the big deal is, I'll try to help in any way I can. That's what friends are for."

"Friends, huh? So friends also send love letters to each other and use mushy words?" Ele teased. She cackled as Ronan's face turned twice as red as her hair. "I've known for months that you liked Arme, but wow. I never would've guessed that you two were dating! How did Lass take the news? They were dating first after all."

Ronan paled. Elesis blinked. "Let's not talk about that, hm?" Ronan answered simply. Just by that alone, Elesis guessed that it didn't go well. "Anyway, i'll try my best to convince Lire to talk to you the best I can." Elesis nodded and lightly punched his arm, thanking him. "Anything for you, Red."

"Anything, huh? I'll keep that in mind." Elesis replied with a soft grin. Ronan chuckled lightly and waved her off. Elesis headed back toward camp lost in her thoughts.

The following night was uneventful at best. Elesis watched as Lire worked around camp, purposefully avoiding any area Elesis happened to be in at the time. She spoke to Rin, Mari and joked with Arme, skipped rocks at the river with Ryan and Lass, endured Sieghart's teasing, spoke to Dio and Ley about their recklessness in battle, joked with Zero as he performed his routine check on Grandark. Lire also seemed quite fond of Edel, laughing so easily at her jokes and gasping at exciting moments in her tales.

Truth be told, it made Elesis angry that Lire would so easily converse and play and joke with others, yet she was somehow not included in that circle of friends. Even jin and Amy were included in her daily life, and she had expressed her extreme dislike of the pinkette when they had first met her! Yet now, here she was, laughing at her terrible jokes and making puns. In truth, it made Elesis quite envious of them. She sighed softly to herself and retired to her tent, plopping down on her bedroll and pulling the blanket over herself. She had intended to sleep, but was too frustrated to get more than a wink.

She stared at her hand that Lire had grabbed just the other night and smiled softly. In truth, she hadn't really minded the contact all that much. It was sudden, but it wasn't all bad. Lire's hands were impossible soft, in contrast to her own rough, calloused hands from wielding her Ssanggeom. "What's wrong with me that she'd just run away like that?" Ele said, voicing her thoughts.

Outside the tent, Lire listened intently from her spot not far away. She felt bad for avoiding Elesis, but what was she supposed to do? She couldn't very well just shout at the oblivious girl that she liked her. It was wrong, wasn't it? Not only were the of different races, but they were both women! There would be hardly anyone in the world that would accept them if they were to be together, and she knew it. Outside of the Chase, they'd be defenseless to the prejudices and criticisms of a world that preached a need and want for peace but would not let go of closed minded thoughts. She sighed softly and turned her gaze up to the moon. Everyone was asleep other than Elesis, but that was okay. She began to sing softly an elven hymn her brother would sing to her as a little girl.

In her tent, Elesis listened to the beautiful song and closed her eyes. She smiled softly. Lire had such a beautiful voice. Before long, she was asleep.

By morning, everyone was awake, and Elesis stretched, feeling much better after a good night's sleep. She went to breakfast and greeted the others with a faint smile, accepting the bowl handed to her by Ronan with a soft thank you. Although usually she would sit with Lire and Arme during meals, she made a point to give the girl as much space as possible. Whatever the reason for Lire's avoiding her was her business. She resolved to put it out of her mind as quickly as possible. Noticing this, Lire sighed softly. "Go talk to her." Arme urged the blonde. "Even I can tell you really want to."

"She's going to be mad at me. I can feel it." Lire replied, shaking her head.

"That's a given." Arme said. "You can't just ignore someone after something big happened between you. Besides, from what you told me, you didn't even kiss her, so what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that I was going to!" Lire hissed, keeping her voice down. Arme stared at the girl. "I told you, it's wrong and nothing can happen between us. With time, she'll forget about what happened, and we can go back to being just friends." Lire nodded matter of factly. Arme frowned. "No!"

"Something tells me you don't actually want that." A new voice said teasingly. Lire looked over to find the dark haired sieghart kneeling beside her and almost yelped. He kept his voice low as well, but his sudden appearance was shocking nonetheless. She hadn't even heard him approach! "What are you so afraid of anyway? If you see someone you like, just go for it. Worst thing that could happen is they won't feel the same."

"...that's precisely what I'm afraid of. And I wouldn't want her to put her future in jeopardy just because she's with me." Lire said. She got up to leave, only to have the male grab onto her arm and give her a look that could only mean 'talk to her'. "This conversation is finished. I have to check my supplies and I will not talk to her!" Yanking from his grip, Lire set her bowl with the rest of the dirty dishes and headed off to her tent.

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