One of the top five on my list of projections I've been meaning to get to for a while. Basically a reworking of Ryoma and Camilla's supports which all take place during and after Revelation. Their supports were pretty funny in them trying to outdo each other in who could be the best sibling to Corrin, but I felt more could have been done with it, especially given how different yet similar Ryoma and Camilla are. Alright, that's enough of my blabbing, onto the story!
I do not own anything.
As far as Camilla could tell it had only been a single day and already the situation had transformed into a mess she could barely comprehend. At least she wasn't alone, hundreds of other souls including her own family were feeling just as dazed and shell shocked as she was. In actuality as soon as the battle had ended she'd needed a moment to herself to catch her breath and take in all that had happened. First they'd all jumped down a supposedly bottomless canyon finding it to actually not just have a bottom, but apparently an entire world teeming with hostile spirits and undead warriors, and the apparent home of the mysterious puppeteer manipulating them all. Camilla would have liked to believe the whole thing was little more than a fancy story passed down to scare children and soldiers, except she was living it, and from the looks of things the story was far from over.
"I can't believe we're even here. Fighting with Hoshidans I can understand, but this! This is madness!" Selena had screamed as soon as the battle had ended and they were given a moment to rest. Beruka, quite exhausted herself, hadn't offered much in protest. Frankly Camilla found it hard to disagree with her retainers.
Setting up camp had been the united army's first and priority as soon as the Vallites had withdrawn from the battlefield. The first battle hadn't exactly been the hardest either armies had ever fought, but working together as a unified fighting force had been…challenging. In the battle's aftermath there had been accusations of friendly fire and sabotage, how much of it was true, how much of it had been the enemy, and how much of it was simply made up was a matter Corrin and Xander had taken an active role in investigating. Camilla had to admit, it was deeply refreshing to see her two brothers working together again, Xander had spent a long time considerable bitter when Corrin chose to side with neither Nohr nor Hoshido. In the end though all had turned out for the best in her opinion, even if all of them were now in an alternate world fighting for their lives against a largely unknown enemy. Risking her life was nothing new, but she'd prefer to do so if she had her family at her side.
"Before we go any further we have to know what's out there. This place, Valla, it exists on no maps and we know next to nothing about the terrain. To advance blind would be foolish and unwise." Xander had begun at the war meeting. As one would expect the first battle in Valla had hardly phased him, to the Nohr's crown prince the Vallites were simply another enemy to be defeated, and Valla itself another landscape to be traversed.
Beside him Leo nodded in agreement. "We have a general idea where to go, but what's waiting for us on that path is largely unknown. We need scouts."
"If you're going to do that you're going to need aerial support." Hinoka had cut in. Ever since the meeting had begun she'd taken the lead for the Hoshido side since Ryoma had largely been... silent. "I'll take a squadron of Sky Knights and scout from the skies."
"If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to join Princess Hinoka." Camilla spoke catching a few occupants off guard, including her Hoshidan counterpart. "What? Even I like to know what it is I'm flying into from time to time, especially if the rest of you intend on following me from the ground."
She watched almost every set of eyes in the command tent scan each other. Of course Xander and Leo were concerned for her as they always were, in addition to them Sakura looked first at Hinoka then at her. In the time they'd together Camilla and the youngest Hoshidan royal had grown close enough to be called sisters, it helped that she reminded her greatly of her younger sisters. From what she could gather Takumi didn't seem to mind too much, he would be a part of the ground scouts and he trusted their abilities enough not to say anything. At least Camilla knew that about Hinoka, with her she'd had to guess whatever he was thinking since he still found it difficult to talk to her.
"Are you sure about that Camilla?" Corrin asked visibly concerned for her. "You did a lot of flying in the last battle and Marzia took a number of hits during the battle."
"Ah Corrin, you should know by now I'm much stronger than what can be taken by a few stray arrows and bolts of magic. If Marzia was here she'd have had something to say about you doubting her after all this time." The Nohrian princess responded with a laugh, probably the first one that had been heard in the command tent.
"Besides Corrin, I'll be there with her in case she runs into something she can't handle." Hinoka's words were enough to warrant Camilla's attention. The redhead did give her a look, but it wasn't one of malice or ill will. Camilla smiled seeing a kind kindling in the eyes of her Hoshidan counterpart. Together they turned back to the others and nodded in confidence.
"Both of you just…make sure to be careful."
Normally Ryoma's voice was an empowering and commanding, filled with confidence and assurance. Now it was…hollow.
Camilla didn't feel like sticking around after that, the atmosphere had grown too stifling for her to remain. Before leaving she did catch a brief glimpse of several making attempts to counsel Ryoma, in response he calmly denied them stating there were bigger things to worry about. Camilla had seen enough to know when someone was doing their best not to break down. The man won't make it through the night without shedding a tear, even if he is the greatest samurai in all of Hoshido.
The nearest she could tell almost half an hour later and she was riding through the misty skies of Valla with Princess Hinoka by her side and a mix of Sky Knights and Wyvern Riders trailed behind them. Every now and then she'd peer behind her to see how their little flock was doing; no one had decided to attack or antagonize anyone so she guess that should have been something. The aerial warriors still kept themselves somewhat divided, the Wyvern Riders behind Camilla and the Sky Knights behind the Hoshidan princess, only a few mingled together flying in pairs.
"Princess Camilla, have you been getting the same bad feeling I have?" Hinoka asked as they passed over another floating landmass littered with ruined buildings and fortifications.
"You mean the feeling like we're being watched like mice in a box? Why yes, ever since we arrived here." Camilla answered truthfully. She'd seen her fair share of battlefields, but this was…different. Almost everything about this place, Valla, made her hair stand on end. Even though there were no enemies in sight nor in sensory range she still felt an ambush was only a second away from happening. "If I may, I'm actually a little happy you let me join you, I fear I wouldn't have had much to do around camp."
"Well I say you on the battlefield earlier and thought it would be better if I had someone like you with me." She smiled. Behind the smile Camilla could tell she was holding something back, no doubt something involving her older brother or his slain lover.
Taking a deep breath Camilla decided she'd start the conversation if only to keep the dreadful silence of the skies at bay. "What…was this Scarlet like? Personally I mean? For obvious reasons I never knew much about her other than she was a suburb Wyvern Rider and a strongly motivated woman."
She kept her voice low enough so that only her fellow royal could hear. The gods only knew what sort of reactions she'd get if she let their conversation be heard by the troops who at best were only barely tolerating each other.
"She…was a good warrior, and a good friend." She softly stated with a look of longing in her eyes. "She was a tough as nails woman who you would have liked to have as an ally and dreaded as an enemy." Hinoka looked closely into Camilla's eyes silently asking for permission to continue, when she received it she released a long held breath. "Scarlet really hated King Garon, she hated everything she stood for and wasn't afraid to put her life on the line to stop his oppression of everything and everyone. Heh, she really did seem like some freedom fighter from a story book come to life, the real deal. Outside of battle though she was one of the nicest people you could ever met, sure she could be stern, but you always knew she cared even if she had to be harsh with you. Scarlet had a way of uplifting everyone around her, I think all those things is why Ryoma…he…"
"You don't have to say anymore; thank you for sharing with me what you could." The Nohrian royal spoke bringing silent ease to the redhead. Another life, one with true value snuffed out, and before the true fight had even begun. I knew I was going to make myself depressed, but I at least owed it to her. When she and Scarlet had crossed paths for the first time she came at her with every intent to kill, it was only natural given she was the daughter of King Garon. When they became allies she acted as if nothing had ever happened and they'd even rode into a storm of arrows side-by-side. In that instant Camilla had grown to admire Scarlet, it pained her there was no chance for her to get to know her better, or her to learn there was more to her beyond her title as princess. Another missed opportunity, not the first, and certainly not the last she feared.
Clearing her mind of such depressive thoughts she turned her attention to the mysterious surrounds of Valla. Again, the Invisible Realm grew more and more unnerving by the second. Beneath her Marzia shivered in slight discomfort, clearly she could sense the sheer wrongness overflowing throughout the realm. Apparently her mount had come to the same conclusion as her, this little adventure was not going to be easy nor was it going to be free of tragedy.
Though they found nothing Camilla, Hinoka, Takumi, and Niles could all agree on one thing: when they next set out conditions would be prime for an ambush. The thing was, the Vallites would be the ones on the receiving end of one instead of the Nohr-Hoshido Army courtesy of Niles and quite a few Hoshidan ninjas. The scouting parties' long hours had revealed their intended path was prime for an ambush that would leave them greatly bogged down and temporarily immobile if they managed to survive. Regardless, everyone knew once the night ended and dawn broke it'd be another day of bloody battles.
Perhaps that was why Camilla decided on one last patrol while the others had decided to turn in for the night. That, or a part of her just wanted to continue enjoying the view; that had always been one of the best parts about riding a Wyvern-a bird's eye view of the world. Even in such an eerie world such as this seeing the sea of campfires spread out below her was a heartwarming sight, even better when she realized who was down there.
"Quite the sight eh dear?" She said gently stroking her beloved Wyvern who purred in response. "What do you say? One last ride around this little hunk of rock before we call it a night?"
Marzia answered for her by suddenly jerking to the right taking off like an arrow from a bow. Immediately Camilla knew something had caught her mount's attention, something dangerous probably. For that reason Camilla's hand immediately went to her axe, if it was an enemy she wouldn't waste time alerting the sentries, she'd handle the matter herself provided it was nothing more than a handful.
The draconic beast didn't need directions nor did she need to slow down for her rider's sake. Her senses, honed through years of fierce combat, were pointing her in one direction and without argument she followed them. The scent was what brought them further away from camp towards a collection of hills overlooking the bottomless void that was Valla. Marzia snorted in disgust, foul simply wasn't a strong enough word to describe the odor of the Vallites, Marzia's animal instincts demanded for her to seek them out and exterminate them, these vile abominations that had no business existing.
Marzia came in faster and with a little more force than Camilla was expecting. She felt the Wyvern's fire rising through its throat then leaving her jaws before she saw several transparent figures moving through the wet grass. An explosion lit up the darkness illuminating the undead Vallites, their eyes seemingly glowing brighter than ever. Marzia crushed the ground beneath her feet momentarily stunning them long enough for her to snap one up in her jaws and for Camilla to separate another in top half and bottom half. Just as the battle-hungry woman was beginning to feel the fires of combat lit inside of her something suddenly snuffed them out.
Both Wyvern and rider felt what could only be described as death itself breathing upon them temporarily freezing the two where they were. The only thing both could move were their eyes, and because of that they could do nothing but watch the lightning-coat blade move in swift and deadly arcs. For Camilla it was like watching a thunder god shape of bolt of lightning into a weapon and use it as their own; she didn't need to think hard to know who it was the Vallites had been attempting to ambush. As the fire faded the light of Raijinto more than took its place, its viper-like movements were followed by the sudden cries of the Vallites who were unfortunate enough to be in its path. Amidst the flashing Camilla caught sight of the wild mane of the sword's owner, perhaps the only portion of Ryoma's body she could catch with her eyes.
If she had to guess she'd say the little skirmish lasted less than a minute, perhaps less than fifty seconds at best. She hadn't realized all of the Vallites were gone until Marzia gave a defensive snarl and the flashes of lightning came to a sudden stop…right in front of her. First her eyes fell upon the blade pointed directly at her chest, then they wondered up to the wielder. Admittedly Camilla felt her heart break a little seeing the High Prince of Hoshido in such a state.
The stream of tears he'd no doubt been shedding had not stopped flowing, yet his face had morphed into a fierce though silent snarl that would have paralyzed even the bravest of warriors. Illuminated by the bluish-white glow of his katana the Hoshidan warrior looked very much like some demon of war. Even Camilla could feel a sliver of fear run through her having the man's stormy eyes trained solely on her. Beneath her Marzia gave another threatening growl, not caring the person before her was of royal blood, not to mention an ally.
Camilla could tell Ryoma was breathing through his noise, short controlled breaths every trained warrior was taught. His grip on his weapon had not slackened and his stance gave every indication one wrong move would be the last move made. "Prince Ryoma," Camilla began in an even voice as not to set him off. "It's over, you've slain all of the Vallites, it's just the two of us."
It was a coin toss rather or not he understood her words, she could only imagine where his mind was at the moment. Second by second the Malig Knight saw the light of reason return to the samurai's eyes, and with it came sadness. First Raijinto was lowered then the weapon was sheathed; however, Marzia did not break from her defensive stance.
"Princ…Princess Camilla, I…I apologize for this. I was not in my right mind." He said with a deep bow that hid his tear-stricken face from view. Just when he felt this moment couldn't get any worse the gods seemed to have decided to prove him wrong. Quickly turning away he cursed himself for not even asking her if she could keep this little…incident between the two of them. At the moment he didn't have the strength to give the future much thought, not now.
Though she doubted the Vallites would make another attempt at assassination a part of her didn't believe leaving the samurai alone was a good idea. Then again she knew when a man needed time to grieve. Luckily she knew a thing or two about that. "Marzia, could you be a dear and give us a moment? I promise I won't be long." In response the Wyvern gave her an annoyed yawn yet none the less did as instructed. Camilla turned back to the armored male sitting on his knees before the hill top, the night air softly blowing his majestic mane to the side. Though he was doing his best she could hear the whisper-like sobs that fell through his lips. Seating herself almost a foot behind him she bowed her head in respect. "I'm…sorry to hear of your lover. She was a brave warrior, and an even better person from what I have heard."
Still Ryoma did not look up from the ground nor did his body give an indication of outrage at having his lover's death brought up. In a way a part of him felt relief Camilla hadn't mentioned Scarlet by name, he didn't think he would have been able to handle it. "Princess Camilla," he grounded out attempting to regain some form of control over his emotions. "P-Please, I beg of you, don't-"
"What transpired this night stays between the two of us, well three counting my beloved Marzia." She solemnly answered, it wasn't that hard for her to imagine what was running through the brown-haired man's mind at the moment. Not for the first time she'd come to the conclusion she now had a second Xander to look after, when she'd voiced the idea to Corrin, Azura, and Elise they'd all laughed and agreed with her. Camilla was hoping because of that she'd be able to help Hoshido's future ruler through this moment of crisis, if only a little. "If it will…ease your mind, I will conduct my own private search to find her killer if he might be in our midst, I highly suspect he is based on what Corrin has told us."
Her words were unexpected, but in a way Ryoma appreciated them. Regardless, he had to keep the matter private, for his sake and for the sake of the army. "I…I thank you for your consideration Princess Camilla, but you mustn't. There are far more pressing matters at hand you need to devote yourself to."
"With all due respect Prince Ryoma, this matter is rather pressing, and it doesn't just affect you. The possibility of a traitor or spy in our midst is something we cannot simply ignore. I can't exactly sit by while an unknown assassin could possibly be laughing alongside my family." The iris-haired woman calmly retorted fixing him with a side glance. As she suspected he was trying to turn Scarlet's death into a military matter while still attempting to find some closure for himself. "I'm sure you can imagine rumors have already begun to fly amongst the soldiers over who might have done it. Unless we're careful the Vallites won't have to waste their time attempting to destroy us, we'll have done that ourselves."
It slightly surprised him how calm and thought out the Malig Knight's words were. In one breath she'd not only shot down his attempts at privacy, but reminded him how far reaching Scarlet's death was. Camilla's words had awoken the tactical side of Ryoma that had gone under for the sake of his emotions. Since Corrin hadn't been able to catch a firm glimpse of Scarlet's killer that left his or her identity up to guess. She was a resistance fighter, a known hardened opponent of King Garon, so that leaves…too many possibly culprits. "Do you have any ideas you believe are worth sharing?"
"I'm sad to say I have none."
"Then I believe the matter is best left dropped, at least for now." The samurai sighed. "If we devote all of our attention to that then we'll be of no use for the future. I doubt this realm is done surprising us, especially since we've only just arrived."
"I agree, that being said, we should use this moment for all it's worth. For you that means grieving." When he turned around to face her she saw new tears threatening to spill form his deep brown eyes. Reaching into her breasts she withdrew a dark and violet-colored handkerchief. His straight frown broke into a look of true confusion while Camilla merely smiled.
At first he was hesitant to take the handkerchief but eventually he did so with trembling hands. Camilla looked away as he used it to dry his tears, even sob a little more into the fine silk.
"Not…to be rude or disrespectful, but how did you know I was here? Did Corrin or Sakura send you to look after me?"
"No, I was on patrol with your sister Hinoka when Marzia senses something amiss. Granted I doubt you would have needed my assistance dealing with such trivial foes."
"I see," Ryoma said look back to see Marzia curled up in the grass a few feet behind them. Though the Wyvern appeared to be sleeping he knew otherwise. "That's quite a beast you have there. I've heard tells of the intelligence of Wyverns, but yours is probably the first true testament to what I've read."
"I can assure you whatever grand tales you've been told of Wyverns Marzia can attest as true. Would you consider riding her?"
In spite of everything he'd felt and experienced in the last few hours Ryoma felt himself smile, maybe not as much as Camilla would have wanted, but it was a smile none the less. "I'll…take it under consideration. I've rode pegasi before courtesy of Hinoka, and Scarlet had been giving me some practice, but…" He looked back at Marzia unsure if the pseudo-dragon unsure if she could hear his words. Just as she was likely feigning sleep she was likely listening to their every word. "Your Wyvern seems a bit…well, not to sound rude, but I don't think she'd be too pleased having an unknown riding upon her."
"Oh I highly doubt she'll mind, believe me, Marzia's carried all sorts of people across her back. She may take a while to warm up to people, but once she does you can be sure there's no finer Wyvern to have carrying you across the sky. Even if that person happens to be dressed in rather clunky armor such as yourself." She added with a giggle.
"Clu..nky?" The High Prince of Hoshido mumbled filling a ting of embarrassment at her words. What he was wearing was the finest samurai armor Hoshido had to offer, the same armor that had saved his life countless times in battle. "For the record my armor has never once worn me down in battle, on the contrary I consider wading into battle without it to be unwise and at times dangerous."
"Heh, if you say so Prince Ryoma." Bringing herself up to her feet she turned towards her beloved Wyvern. "I'll head back to camp to inform Corrin and the others you are alright. I imagine by now they've started to become worried about you."
"Please inform them I'll be along shortly, I just…need a few more moments to myself." Ryoma replied.
With a nod the Nohrian princess took her leave causing Marzia to stir. Ryoma was silent as he watched the axe-wielder mount the draconic beast then take off towards camp. Briefly he wanted to believe it was Scarlet, but he knew he couldn't let his mind play tricks on him now.
It was only after she was out of sight did the Swordmaster realize he hadn't handed her back her handkerchief. Taking a moment to examine the cloth he noticed how soft and well-made it was, decorated violet designs around the edges, a design fit solely for royalty. Despite being sullied with his tears he could still smell the strong aroma of the handkerchief. Upon breathing it in the fearless samurai realized for the first time just how…particular this situation would look. I can't allow anyone to see this, much less people like Keaton, Kaden, Orochi, or gods forbid even Rinkah! Already he was picturing one of the four cornering him and forcing a confession out of him, Rinkah especially since she was just as blunt as Scarlet, maybe more so.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the Nohrian emblem emblazed in one of the corners. "…Thank you Princess Camilla." He'd return it the next time they had a moment to themselves, and thank her for giving him this brief moment of clarity. That, or he'd find some way to pay her back on the battlefield, he owed her a debt and as a samurai he couldn't leave it unfulfilled. He knew Scarlet would have something to say about him if he did.
So that was basically their C-Support, short and rather impersonal. Next one will see them being a little more open since Ryoma will have had time to grieve and more willing to talk to Camilla.