Update! Sorry about the weird "em"s before and after some words. I had to delete/re-post the chapter to correct that problem.
Wow, I'm sorry. I'm terribly behind on absolutely everything. I have probably four or five fanfictions in various degrees of completion, and here I go writing another story entirely before I finish any of them.
This one actually evolved from almost the opposite idea... I started writing one in which Jakob does for Corrin what she decides to do for him in this one. Then I got this kind of involved idea, and I had to write it. The other story may or may not go unfinished... I'm not sure. It's much shorter... probably won't be longer than 1500 words, so I might finish it and post it to my Precious Moments collection, even though it isn't quite so "mini."
This story will most likely have three chapters. Possibly four, but probably three... And I should be finished with the second one soon.
Otherwise, as I said, I have much in the works. In the meantime, this story is a bit darker and certainly longer than most I write, but I desperately hope you enjoy it. ^.^
Long live Jakob and Corrin!
After the battle, everyone is covered in blood. Moans fill the valley from the wounded or dying. Those strong enough to walk are either making their way to a healer or picking over the bodies, searching for friends or for enemies who have not yet succumbed to their wounds.
I am still breathless, the exertion, the madness, the adrenaline making me twitch at every sound. In one hand I grip Yato, unwilling to sheath it until I know everyone is safe, and in the other, I hold a festal for those allies I find that need immediate help.
I have a gash along my arm from a paladin's lance and scratches from swords and arrows I didn't completely dodge, but I don't go looking for someone to heal me. Jakob will surely find me soon enough anyway, and I can't leave the battlefield until I've searched every face and determined there are no friends dying in the dirt or enemies waiting for me to turn my back.
There's a fighter lying face down, and I cautiously nudge him with the toe of my boot until he rolls over enough for me to see his face. His eyes are mostly closed, glazed over, and his jaw is hanging open slightly, blood on his lips. I move on.
I pass over many dead enemies, confirming their eyes hold no spark of life before continuing my search. I come to a copse of trees with three dead Nohrians, and I crouch next to one, looking with regret at his youthful face. I hear a groan behind me, and I instantly straighten, searching for the source of the sound. When he coughs, my eyes land on a familiar form lying on the roots of a tree… Hinata… and my heart stops in my chest at the state he's in. I rush to his side, falling to my knees beside him. "Hinata," I mutter trying and failing to keep the fear from my voice as I examine the javelin lodged in his stomach. "Hinata, can you hear me?"
"L-Lady Cor—" He coughs up blood, and I tell him to stop speaking. I quickly glance around me before setting down my sword. I've only just begun to learn how to use staves, and I have no idea what I should do now. Pull the lance from his stomach first or heal the tissue, ignoring the javelin and hope it works itself out? I lick my lips, fighting back the panic. I want to go get Sakura or Felicia or anyone else who knows healing better than I, but there's no time. Hinata is barely clinging to life as it is. If I pull the javelin from him I might kill him before I have the chance to heal him, but if I don't… he will surely suffer an unimaginable amount of pain.
I swear and brush the hair from his eyes. "Hinata, listen to me. I'm going to help you… but it will hurt." He looks at me, but I'm not sure he understands, the usual cocky grin he wears nowhere in sight. "You will survive this, do you understand me? …That's an order." He nods weakly at me, and I grasp his hand for a moment with relief. Then I let go and grip my staff tightly, raising it above me. I shut my eyes, focusing my power until I feel it glowing in my chest. The magic imbued wood of the festal in my hands vibrates with life... The curative magic seeping into Hinata's body like a mist passing through a screen. I feel the wound begin to knit itself back together, torn, dying flesh repairing itself and regenerating. The javelin starts shifting in his gut, and Hinata starts screaming. I clench my jaw, sweat trickling down my back, and keep working, trying to drown out his agonized cries by focusing entirely on the healing, forcing the power into him whether he wants it or not.
I sense the blood start to pump harder through him as his organs repair around the foreign object lodged in him, and Hinata's scream hits a fevered pitch. I take a strangled breath, hands gripping so tightly on the staff, my knuckles turn white. The magic is draining me of strength and filling Hinata with life. If he can just hold on a little longer…
The bloody lance falls to the ground, his skin closing after it until there's nothing but a bloody gash, and I'm spent. I collapse on the dirt, taking desperate, shuddering breaths, my arms shaking... But something is wrong. What is it? Something is— Then I realize Hinata is silent.
I push myself up with trembling hands and see his eyes are closed, his face slack. "Please no. Please no. You have to live, Hinata. I ordered you to live!" I place my fingers at his throat and hold my breath, praying… and… and… and… after tense seconds of nothing, I feel it! His heartbeat! He's alive. I cover my face with my hands, letting out a sound that is half sob and half laugh of relief, overwhelmed by the terror and the relief simultaneously.
"Corrin!" A distant voice cries above me, and I look up. Hinoka on her pegusus has just spotted me, and I thank the gods.
"Hinoka!" I reply, rising unsteadily to my feet as she glides towards me. "Hinata is hurt and unconscious. You have to fly him back to safety!" She lands a short distance from me, avoiding the trees so her beast has enough space to canter to a stop.
Ignoring what I said, she dismounts and rushes towards me anxiously. "Corrin, I've been looking for you everywhere!" she yells before she even reaches me, and I frown at the worry in her voice. Something is wrong. She puts her hand on my shoulder. "Sister, they have Jakob."
The blood drains from my head… I feel faint. The earth spins, and I have to put my hand to a tree to steady myself before I lose my balance entirely. "What?" I choke out, confused. "What do you mean?"
"I found Silas on the edge of the battlefield," she explains. "And he told me Jakob was with him. They knocked him over the head and dragged him away! Silas tried to stop them, but there were too many. He said they would have captured him, if he hadn't managed to escape before they could…" I can't hear her anymore as she continues to speak. My ears are ringing, and I'm dizzy. I'm terribly… I'm terribly dizzy.
They took Jakob. He could be… He could be… I cover my mouth with my hand, run my fingers through my hair. No. No. Impossible. He's alive. He has to be. They would keep him, question him. He has to be alive. He has to b—
"Corrin, look out!" Hinoka shoves me aside before I can react, and a sword buries itself into the tree I had been using for support. I land on the ground a few feet away, and Hinoka lunges at my attacker with an angry cry. Both of them go down weaponless, fighting in the dirt, and I'm on my feet, reaching for Yato before I realize it's still on the ground beside Hinata. Hinoka strikes the Nohrian, but he snarls, and kicks her off him and towards my blade. I have my dragonstone in hand, but I don't want to use it. I can hardly think in beast form even with the help of the stone, and I have to keep this enemy alive…. Hinoka grabs my sword, rushing towards the Nohrian who is stumbling back, and I'm suddenly screaming, "Don't kill him!"
Hinoka freezes, the point of my blade at the chest of the mercenary.
Her eyes flick towards me, and then she twists the sword in her grip and slams the pommel against his head. He collapses, unconscious, and Hinoka takes a step back, breathless and dirty, and I whisper my gratitude.
"Corrin, please, you can't do this," Hinoka pleads.
"Yes, I can," I hiss. "And I will." I'm pacing. I can't sit still. It's already been four hours since my sister told me Jakob was taken, and the trackers say there are too many traces of escaping Nohrians. It's impossible to know which to follow.
Our prisoner, whose name we have learned is Hendrik, says he knows where they took him, but he won't say any more. He could be lying to keep his neck, or he could honestly know what they're doing with Jakob. I can't be certain which is true… Not unless I force the truth out of him through any means necessary.
"Big sister, p-please sit down. I n-need to see to y-your arm," Sakura stammers, her voice trembling.
"I'm fine!" I yell probably louder than I should have. Sakura's expression falls, and regret washes over me. This isn't her fault. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I fall into a chair and lay my arms on the rests. Sakura creeps over to me, stuttering her forgiveness, and examines the laceration.
"Let me do it, Corrin," Ryoma, leaning on the doorframe with a dark look in his eyes, finally speaks.
"Nobody should have to," Takumi exclaims, gesturing in frustration. "Just take the prisoner back to the dungeon and leave him there for a little while. In a couple of days he'll be ready to talk—"
"We don't have days," I counter, slamming my fist on the chair and startling Sakura with my outburst. "Jakob could be d—" I cut myself off, take a breath, and try again. "He could be gone by then, and in the meantime, the Nohrians will surely torture him for information, and you're telling me we can't do the same to rescue him?"
Silence fills the room, no one quite willing to deny that I'm right.
"Let me do it, Corrin," Ryoma repeats softly.
I look at him. "No. Thank you, Ryoma, but no. Jakob is… He's mine, and I will be the one to question the prisoner." I rise to my feet before anyone can argue, Sakura just barely managing to heal my wound before I do. "I appreciate that you're all trying to help, but honestly, we're just wasting time. I need to do this now before Jakob can't be found."
Turning on my heel, I leave the tent, trying my best to appear confident that this is, actually the right thing to do…
We've set up a makeshift camp rather than returning to the deep realms. The wounded are still being tended to, and the hungry are being fed, and the prisoner is being guarded.
"Saizo!" I call, searching for him outside, assuming he'll be nearby.
"What do you need?"
His growling voice comes from behind me, and I turn, finally used to his unexpected appearances. "I need you to escort the prisoner into the woods and stand guard while I question him." His one good eye examines me, some sort of understanding there deep within. Then he tilts his head in acknowledgement, and I return the nod before turning to find where they're keeping Hendrik.
Subaki is guarding him, I see. When I say his name his mouth curves into a smile, but when he sees me, it quickly drops into seriousness. "Lady Corrin, are you here to speak to the prisoner?"
"Yes," I reply. "Saizo and I are taking him into the woods."
"… Into… the woods?" he questions.
"Yes," I snap, my patience short, half from fear for Jakob and half from fear of what I'm about to do. "I'm going to question him a little more strongly than the others have. Now if you would please move aside…"
"O-Of course," Subaki murmurs, his perfect control shaken. "Can I… help with anything?"
"No. Thank you. You may go." I throw back the tent flap, looking in on the man tied hand and foot. He has light brown hair and strong arms… He glances up at me, and I think I see a flicker of fear in his blue eyes before he snarls and spits in the dirt.
I drop the flap and turn around, my heart suddenly pounding in my temples. I raise my hand to my head, and try to swallow past my tightening throat. I was so sure this had to be done… But he's just a man. An enemy, but still, only human, and I'm terrified. Can I even do this? I've done things I never thought I would be able to do. Hurt people. Killed people. But… torture a defenseless man, trapped and afraid, possibly with a family of his own somewhere out there waiting for him to return?
"Corrin," Saizo speaks from next to me, and I open my eyes, trying and failing to appear confident in front of him. "All you have to do," he murmurs, "is think of why you're doing this."
"W-What?"
He gestures at the small tent Hendrik sits in and repeats, "think of why you're doing it."
And I suddenly understand. I understand exactly what he means, and I understand something else. At some point, Saizo has experienced the same doubts I just felt… This will not be the first time he's seen a man tortured. With new eyes, I study the quiet ninja. Of course I should have guessed… and perhaps somewhere in the back of my mind, I already did. Why else would I have chosen him out of all the army to help me?
I swallow and tilt my head silently then close my eyes and think of why I'm doing this…
It's an easy answer.
Jakob… I'm doing this for him… to save him… so I think of him, and I think of why he's worth it. Memories and sensations flash through my mind…
The boy with the white hair crying in his room… The young butler kneeling before me and swearing his fealty. The honeysuckle in my room every day, and the quiet looks he gave me when he thought I wasn't looking. His soft smile, and his constant presence. His condescending opinion of the silly books Felicia always chose when it was her turn in our book club. His voice… His laugh... His warm, soft scent. His violet eyes, and the way I looked at him when I thought he wasn't watching.
Gods, I love Jakob. I've loved him for so long.
And I never said a word.
I have to get him back… I have to get him back. He's being held and probably hurt, and if I know him, probably thinking of nothing but me. My heart twists cruelly in my chest, and I know I will go to whatever lengths necessary to bring him home to me… Even if that means I will no longer be worthy of his affection once I do…
When I open my eyes and the resolve has returned, I can tell Saizo understands that I'm ready. He doesn't say a word but disappears into the tent, returning with Hendrik in his grasp.
"We're going for a little walk in the woods," I tell him, a devilish smile curling the edges of my lips, and I turn, walking into the woods without a backwards glance.