After the Victory
Okay, this is my new Fire Emblem fanfiction. I think it should be better than my first one (longer chapters anyway), but see what you think of it. So here it goes...
It was almost midnight. The sky was black and thick with clouds. Rain poured in watery bullets over the wooded landscape. Blasts of thunder erupted from the sky, and were the only things louder than the waterfall of rain. A few jagged bolts of lightning broke across the gray clouds, giving out temporary bursts of light and eerily shadowing the trunks of trees. There was a small, dirt trail between the trees that ran in a relatively strait-forward path. A hooded figure in a black cloak drifted along the path, barely making a sound and hardly seemed to touch it as he walked. The harsh wind rushed over his cloak, making it look like a rippling shadow in the middle of the raging storm. Every so often, a shot of lightning would brighten his face, but his eyes were hidden behind the dark hood of his cloak.
He went steadily down the path until he could see a building ahead with light in the windows. It was but a large cabin in the middle of the forest, used as a bar and an inn for the few travelers that come there. It was noisy inside, but the sounds could not be heard well from outside in the pounding rain and booming thunder. The figure proceeded towards the inn, his cloak completely saturated with rainwater. When he reached the wooden door, he clasped its bronze handle with a cold, pale hand. A boom of thunder roared as he did so. When he slowly pushed the old door open, it creaked on its hinges.
The noise of talking and beer mugs replaced the roaring of the storm, but wasn't any less quiet. The figure in black threw back his wet hood and said, "My goodness, there certainly is an immoderate storm out there today." A few men at the bar turned to the speaker. "Hey, Canas, you made it!" exclaimed the young man with blue hair and armor of the same color, but a darker shade. Canas nodded to the lord. "Good to see you again, Lord Hector." he said. The man beside Hector raised his large mug of foaming beer. "Ello thar, Canas! Come an' join us!" he slurred. Canas gave the maroon-haired warrior a look and chuckled to himself as he took a seat on the barstool on the other side of Hector. "Ah, Geitz, you know I don't drink." he said. "But this be a special occasion!" Geitz protested. Canas ignored his drunken words and pulled out a book from his cloak and started to read it.
This was indeed a special occasion, however. For just the day before, Lord Eliwood and his companions successfully defeated the evil Lord Nergal. Canas continued reading his book of dark magic spells until drops of beer splashed onto the pages and soaked into the paper. He looked to where the drink had sprayed from and saw Hector chugging down his alcoholic beverage. Canas gave him a repulsed look and said, "Ah, Hector, you disgust me sometimes." He closed the book and got out of his seat, then moved to a table where a group of his fellow magic wielders sat. He took a seat in the empty chair beside Erk, the mage. Across from him was Lucius the monk, who had a half-empty mug of beer with him. "Oh, not you too, Lucius!" Canas complained as the monk took a gulp of the beverage. "Don't you think heavy drinking is unholy?" Lucius smirked at the question. "Nothing is unholy at times like this." he replied. Canas groaned and hit his head on the table's hard, wooden surface.
"So...Erk, where's that Serra girl? I thought she always followed you around." asked Pent, who was sitting next to Lucius. A smile came to Erk's usually expressionless face. "I think I finally got rid of her." he said. Of course, just after he said this, the young cleric called to him. "Oh! There you are, Erky!" Erk clenched his fists and muttered swear words under his breath. Pent sniggered at Erk's bad luck as Serra skipped over to the table. She put her arms around the mage and said, "Erky, where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Erk struggled to free himself from her grip, and ended up falling out of his chair. A few heads turned when he slammed to the ground and cursed loudly.
Other than those few, everyone was having a good time eating, talking, and drinking after the fight with Nergal. However, Lord Eliwood had gone upstairs and not yet come down. Someone said he had locked himself in his room with their female tactician, who had not been seen since the final battle. Whatever the reason, he did not show up at the bar, and no one seemed to worry about it. All of Eliwood's friends were celebrating at the inn that dark and stormy night.
All, that is, except two cavaliers...