Fire Emblem Heroes: Set before Book 2, Chapter 7
Here again, Kiran thought. He had fallen asleep while reading The Art Of War, a book he had on his person when Anna summoned him. Now he sat on top of one of his favorite places as a child, a tall brick wall built into a hill, overlooking a nearby forest. It was night, but a full moon illuminated the land, giving a slight glow to the treetops.
He heard footsteps behind him, and a tall woman sat beside him. She had pink hair that ended with blonde highlights, wore a long teal dress with a matching headpiece, and had ice blue eyes.
"Hello Gunnthrá.", Kiran said, gazing through the forest.
"Hello Kiran. Where are we tonight?".
"This is my home. Or at least a memory of it. My house is somewhere over there, hidden under the trees.".
"It's quite warm here, I'm actually sweating!".
"Ha! It feels like summer now, but this is nothing. During the day I've seen temperatures raise over one hundred degrees.".
"One hundred what?".
"Oh that's right, I guess you wouldn't know Fahrenheit. It's a system we use to measure temperature. When the weather gets over a hundred it becomes almost unbearable, the air feels like its too hot to breath.".
"That sounds absolutely dreadful! I much prefer the cold to the heat.".
"Well we have that too. Not as cold as Nifl, but it does go below zero.".
"Zero?".
"Sorry about that. At 32 degrees water freezes, so zero degrees is bitterly cold. I can't stand it, it rarely snows here so most of the chill comes in the form of wind. It becomes so cold it'll numb your fingers and ears and cut through your coat.".
"Huh. That sounds just like home.", Gunnthra smiled, then it quickly disappeared.
"You ok Gunnthrá?".
"Yes I am 'ok', though I still find that saying strange. It's not a word just two letters!".
"We've always said it in my world, I don't know how it came to be, just what it means. Gunnthrá, I have something I want to ask you.".
"What is it?".
"Our connected dreams, how we always end up together in them, that's because of the bond you established, right?".
"Yes.".
"Will they ever end? Or will we spend every night like this, side by side, exploring each other's memories?".
"Hmm, I don't rightly know. This bonding magic was rarely used back home, we were warned against bonding with others on a whim. Very little is written about it, most people ignored it entirely. I suppose it may wear off in time, but we could be like this for the rest of our lives.".
"Huh.".
"I do apologize if this is an inconvenience, I needed a way to safety contact you if we are to stop Sutr. It was done out of necessity, not of carelessness.".
"It's no problem, I understand your reasoning. This isn't that bad.".
"You are truly 'ok' with it?".
"Ha! Yes I am 'ok' with it. It's actually pretty nice to have someone else in my dreams, it allows me to focus better, control what I'm imagining more. It's sort of like having an anchor, preventing me from drifting away in the chaos of the night.".
"Chaos of the night? What does that mean?".
"I may have been over dramatic there, I'm just not a fan of sleep. It feels chaotic to me, I have no control of where I go. There were nights I would have nightmares so vivid that I'd wake up in a cold sweat. During those nightmares I would be about to die, and I could feel my body shutting down, the pain of whatever horrific wounds I received feeling so real. It got so bad that I started to hate sleeping, staying up late, only falling asleep when my body was too exhausted for me to dream.".
"Kiran…".
"Yeah I know, that got a little dark. I'm sorry about that. What did you dream of before all of this?".
"Hmm. I dreamed of daily life. My dreams were just like my actual life, I would see Fjorm wandering around the castle and I would speak to mother. Then I would survey the town, and try to ensure that everyone was prepared for the cold night. If I had free time I would practice wind magic, using those icy gusts you hated as a weapon.".
"That sounds wonderful. Did you ever forget that you were sleeping during the dreams?".
"All the time! I would wake up thinking I had accomplished my tasks for the day, only to discover that I hadn't! It was sometimes very perplexing.".
"I'm sorry I pulled you away from those dreams Gunnthra, they sound fantastic.".
"No, it's fine. Ever since Sutr, well the dreams haven't changed. They followed the same path they used too, and they felt just as real. But with mother dead and Nifl destroyed, they just became painful. I'd wake up with tears in my eyes, seeing everyone and everything I've lost so real, so close, it was painful. I'd forget that they died, and believe that my reality was the dream, only to be reminded quite harshly of the truth upon waking up.".
"Gunnthrá…".
"Oh now I'm the one being so dark and gloomy, I do apologize. Let's change subjects, how goes your journey?".
"Hmm. We've been traversing through Nifl quite smoothly, encountering little resistance since we've captured Legworm.".
"It's Laegjarn.".
"Yeah her. Their forces have been in disarray, and we should reach you soon. It'll be a little strange to meet you face to face, but also exciting.".
"I feel the same way Kiran.".
"Do we look the same in this dream as we do in real life?".
"Yes you appear exactly as you were when you fell asleep. Hehe, it looks like you fell asleep in a book or something, your hair is quite messy.".
"I guess it is. Well we can't all go to sleep with perfect hair. In fact your hair is extremely neat, wait a second. Did you brush it before you went to sleep?".
"Nooo, of course I didn't, that would be silly.".
"Ha! I don't think you're telling the truth princess! Your cheeks are turning red!".
"Kiran please stop that!".
"You're blushing!".
"Kiran!".
"Ok, fine. Your hair does look pretty good, you know.".
"Oh, thank you.".
"I'll comb mine before I sleep as well, just for you Gunnthrá.".
"Y-you don't have to,".
"No I insist. Huh it looks like the sun's coming up. I think we're about to wake up.".
"I suppose we are. I can feel my body in my warm bed, resting comfortably".
"Ugh I can feel my body too. I am going to be sore all day.".
"Hehe, good morning Kiran!".
"Good morning Gunnthrá.".
...
Author's note:
They did Gunnthrá dirty in the latest chapter, they literally (SPOILER ALERT!) killed her before she could join the party! What the hell?! She had barely any character development, she had so much potential too! Ugh, it irritates me. Because of this I decided too expand on Gunnthrá's character a little bit, with one of her sleep talks with Kiran. Also Kiran is the default name for the summoner, if you weren't aware of that. This came out to be more support conversation like than an actual story, which is strange as I've never written like this before. Any comments are accepted, hopefully the dialogue between Kiran and Gunnthrá doesn't sound like nonsense to you. Anyways thanks for reading this! (Also I'm still a bit unsure about the rating system, just gonna put this a T to be safe.)