This was created for Wings of the Skies. Not associated with "Redefining Friends"
Libra opened his eyes to see the bright ray of sunlight shining just through the small opening of the flap of the tent. He felt groggy and sore all over as if he had slept for far longer than he desired to. His long, blond locks fell on his face as he turned his head to notice Virion reading a book. His eyes opened wide for a moment and a faint red hue ran across his face but quickly left as Libra calmed himself and cleared his throat to get Virion's attention.
"Ah! Rise and shine to you, sleeping beauty. I feared you were lost to us in dreams for how long you tossed and turned about." The blue haired noble spoke with a smile as he closed the book without leaving a marker and placed it on his lap. His appearance was as prim and proper as ever despite wearing only a loose blue cotton shirt with white trims as well as beige pants. He looked as if he were settling in for the night.
"It was a dream alright... What are you doing here anyway, Virion?" Libra wanted to sit up but it felt as if his bones were encased in metal. He struggled to rise and Virion grabbed him with his arms to help the young monk. Their faces came close to one another which made the monk back away with a jolt. Virion gave him a confused look. "I-I apologize... The dream seems to have me startled still."
"Non! It felt like hours watching you toss about. Tell me your dream Mon'Ami, perhaps it will help?"
"Uhm... Only if you give your word to speak none of this to the others and... Try not to laugh."
"I promise to tell not a single soul. I am a man of my word," he said and grinned as Libra gave him a skeptical look, "I am! Now then, you have my word. You can start."
Libra took in a deep breath and tried his best to recall the dream.
The day started off like any other. Libra was patrolling the area ahead along with Gaius, Virion, Panne and Cordelia. The rest of the group were about a mile behind to make sure no risen or brigands came around to ambush the patrol. Cordelia was above the makeshift dirt road as Gaius took the lead followed by Panne. She swept the area once over, using her ears to listen to any suspicious activity. Virion walked with grace, as if he had no care in the world in front of Libra who was there mostly to support their archer should things become a close combat scenario.
Libra looked onward, catching himself watching Virion's hair remain in place despite his constant stride. "How in the world does he keep it from moving around everywhere? What would happen if I tried to run my fingers through his hair? Would it get stuck within the locks?" As he thought of silly things, he noticed Panne had stood still, her ears up on full alert. Gaius had his hands close to his blade and crouched, as if he was preparing for something. Cordelia was no where to be seen and Virion was simply standing there, appearing casual but within a blink of an eye he could have a bow aimed and ready as desired.
The monk was already reaching for his axe when he suddenly heard Panne yell out for everyone to dodge. There was a swarm of arrows that were shot from all directions but miraculously they had missed everyone in the party. Libra gritted his teeth as he heard laughter coming from the trees and now the people who shot at them were coming onto the road. They were not risen but bandits. "Why are there still brigands when the world is full of dangers with the risen? Why do they still try to fight against us?"
"Your words fall on deaf ears, my friend," said Virion as he had his arrow ready and aimed for a man with a sword. "Cordelia has gone to get help, we can hold them easily enough until the others arrive." The monk nodded as he swung his ax at large brute who had taken an arrow to the knee, making him slip down. He was done for the fight and Libra took note of more men rising out of the sea of trees around them.
Gaius was surrounded but he was against large men who wore bulky armor that made them much slower when swinging their blades. The candy thief had no trouble dodging and giving a counter strike when they were wide open. As he fought, he managed to grab a piece of taffy from his cloak and pop it into his mouth when he cut a brigand's chest. Jumping back in tactical retreat, Panne moved in to kick the same brute hard against a tree. There was at least fifteen more people around them with no injuries and had their weapons trained on the four warriors.
"Get ready..." Panne said as she took an aggressive stance.
Virion had shown no mercy as he began to shoot arrows at anyone who came within a few feet of the group. As the blue haired archer narrowed his eyes he was able to spot another villainous archer among the brigands. He bit his lip and called to the others, "Don't let their arrows touch you! They have been tainted with poison!" That's when more weapons began to slice through the air and arrows flew towards them. The young duke had quick eyes and even faster hands as he had shot several arrows against his opponent and didn't turn to watch them fall as he already had his bow facing the next target.
Libra swung his axe upwards, slicing clean through a bandit and with the momentum turned and slammed another smaller swordsman on the ground. He noticed Panne was no longer in the area, probably chasing down a bandit or two who were terrified of seeing the large rabbit monster appear. Gaius had a few sweets in his mouth as he had given an archer a taste of his blade and a lancer several stabs before moving away from the area to get closer to the group so he wouldn't be overwhelmed. Libra reached for his staff as he noticed the thief had a bit of blood coming from his arm and quickly healed him. Sadly, the monk didn't take poison into account and had no means to cure any of them if they had gotten hit by one of the arrows Virion had warned them about.
Virion himself had a smile as he had hit every target with a bulls-eye but not in the literal sense. He'd dare not aim for the eyes, simply too crude and cruel for his taste. So often his arrows found themselves in the arms and legs of his human enemies to cripple them and let others deal any necessary final blows. As he let the arrow fly from his bow, he couldn't see the sharp blade aimed for his chest. The smirk slowly faded as he turned and his eyes closed the moment he saw a white stream from a blade swipe. There was darkness but no pain to accompany it. Was he dead so swiftly? No, he heard yelling around him. Opening his eyes he saw that Libra had taken the blow while also defeating the bandit who attacked him.
"I was a bit too slow..." Libra laughed as the poison began to spread into his body. He was able to feel the pain going from his gut to his heart and he knew help wouldn't be arriving for at least another five minutes and that's was hopeful wishing. Despite a cold feeling in his stomach there were warm hands hold him as his vision began to blur but he could spot that blue hair and angelic face anywhere. "Virion..."
"Don't speak! You need to hold on!"
"I'm sorry... I tried my best."
"Shush!"
"You have such beautiful eyes..."
"That poison is warping your mind."
"No... Virion... I need to say it... I find your eyes hypnotic..."
Libra mustered all of his strength to lean up to Virion, lips just an inch away from one another...
"That's when I woke up," Libra said with a blush as he loosened his hands apart, unaware of how tightly he'd laced his fingers until now. He closed his eyes and tried to erase the dream.
"Interesting..." Virion said to the monk, "But you missed the best part."
Libra opened his eyes, staring at the duke with a confused expression. "Pardon me?"
"This."
With that word, Virion kissed Libra deeply and ended it just as fast as it began. It left the monk red and even more confused but before he could muster up any words to say, the duke smirked.
"It was not a dream, my dear. Have you not paid any attention to your surroundings?"
The eyes of the monk began to move from the blue haired Adonis and grazed at the unfamiliarity of the tent. "Is this the infirmary?" He saw that Virion nodded his head and then realized he was wearing almost nothing aside from his undergarments and bandage wrappings where the blade had sliced at his skin. There was a faint purple hue which surrounded the wraps, probably due to the residual poison left in his system. "It wasn't a dream?"
Virion laughed weakly, "You frightened me. I had thought I lost you within moments of your eyes closing, Chrom and the others leaped into the scene and young Lissa quickly aided your wounds along with the help of Panne who went searching for medicinal herbs to fight the poison in your bloodstream. Damn it all, Libra... Never do that again. I don't want to lose you." He hadn't realized that he had gently wrapped his arms around the monk and the moment he did, he did not care. He never wanted to let Libra go, not realizing that Libra had also felt the same.
They both silently swore to always protect the other.
