Hey folks, it's time for the In-SAIN New Year's Extravaganza 2016-2017!
This is the first in a series of Sain-centric pieces I made for the holiday! I'm hoping to make this an annual tradition.
The time was drawing near for Eliwood's company to go to Valor, and Hector had decided to take the group to Ostia Castle Town to pick up supplies before departing. Sain, being Sain, used the time to flirt with the village women, though he had no expectation of courting any. Meanwhile, Dorcas' friend Bartre was having a tantrum; he had visited the arena and was all too promptly defeated by a mysterious swordswoman. The green-clad paladin witnessed the fight and instantly became enamored with the her. Upon seeing her leave the arena, Sain could not help but run to greet her.
"Ah, lovely dame, your graceful movements are only matched in beauty by your strong, yet elegant appearance!" the paladin bowed.
"Can I help you?"
"My name is Sain, I am a humble servant of House Caelin and a loyal retainer of the Lady Lyndis! Would you please grace me with your name, or better yet your company?"
"How many times have I heard you use that line?" Kent, who apparently was listening in, scoffed, "can you please focus on preparing yourself for the coming battles instead of flirting with every woman you see?"
"If you have nothing of substance to say, I will take my leave," the swordswoman sighed and walked off.
"W-wait! Damn it Kent, why do you have to ruin everything?!"
"I'm just trying to keep you focused."
"'Trying' is the key word there. Listen, I have a feeling about this one, so just let me have her!"
"You've said almost as often as your generic opening line."
"I promise this will be the last one until we get back from Valor!" Sain was one step away from falling to his knees and begging.
His boon companion pondered this for a moment before responding, "Alright, fine. I'll let you flirt with this one last woman, but if you move on to anyone else I'll drag you to the armory by your ears."
"Thank you so much! You won't regret it!" the green-armored paladin grinned and ran after the swordswoman.
"I already am…" Kent groaned.
It did not take long for Sain to catch up to the swordswoman, and as soon as he did, she rolled her eyes.
"What do you want?"
"Only to know who you are and what your plans are in the near future."
"My name is Karla. I was raised in Sacae, and I currently travel the world in search of my brother, fighting in arenas to support myself financially, as well as to find fighters who can actually challenge my skill." At this point, Sain decided to change tactics.
"I saw your match; you are quite talented. You know, we could use someone with your skills in our company, as we are going up against an extraordinarily dangerous foe."
"Is that so?"
"Yes! He is nigh-impervious to conventional weapons and can create entire armies with his magic!"
"Interesting. Where is he?"
"On the isle of Valor."
"That's quite far; I'm sure I will find other challenging opponents elsewhere."
"Is there any way I can convince you to join our company?"
"If you can defeat me in a sparring match, then I will consider it."
"If that it what it takes, o beauteous dame, then your Sain will make it so! When shall we begin?"
"As soon as you are ready," Karla drew her sword. The paladin smiled, unlimbered his lance and directed his horse to a good distance.
She WILL join our company – I'll make sure of it! I must have that beautiful creature by my side! Sain thought to himself, feeling more focused than he had been in quite a while. When he saw Karla was ready, he charged her with such ferocity it threw the swordswoman off-guard and she struggled to block his lance. Sain continued forward, then turned his horse around, preparing for another charge. Before he could make his move, however, the Sacaen swordmaster named Karel who joined the company in Bern intervened.
"Karla? Is that you?" he asked.
"Brother!" Karla smiled.
Brother? Sain frowned internally out of confusion. Though when he thought about it, it kind of made sense. The two were remarkably similar in appearance, and as far as Sain could tell, in personality as well.
"Sir Sain, is it? Leave us; I would like a word with my younger sister," Karel said; his tone making it clear he would not take no for an answer.
To Sain's delight, the swordmaster managed to convince Karla to join Eliwood's company before Hector decided to move on to Badon, and then to Valor.
Once Fargus' ship set sail and everyone settled in, Sain yet again approached the swordmistress. Before he even opened his mouth, however, Karla stood up and drew her sword.
"Sir Sain, we never finished our duel. You really impressed me before, and I really would like to see more of what you are capable of."
"Consider it done, my dear!" Sain smiled, unlimbered his lance and charged the swordmistress as dashingly as he could. Unfortunately, he had a little too much energy and accidentally jumped right over the edge of the boat and into the sea, losing consciousness as soon as he hit the water.
Am I dead? Sain thought briefly before realizing that if he were, he would not be in nearly as much pain as he was he regained consciousness, he noticed that he was lying on a soft-yet-firm pillow that arced twice, kind of like a pair of legs. He opened his eyes, but his vision was completely blurred. It did begin to clear eventually, and he began to make out a strange, ovular object mostly obstructing the sun's glare.
What is that? A horse? No, wrong shape. A table perhaps? Wait, why is there a divot? Did that Bartre fellow have another tantrum and ram his axe through it? If it really is a table, the fabric of its cover is just like that of clothing… but why– then, Sain's vision fully came into focus and he realized what he was staring at.
"GAH!" the knight jumped up and looked Karla in the eye instead of at her chest.
"What's wrong?" the black-haired swordmistress cocked her head.
"Oh… Dame Karla… I-I was just s-surprised is all. A-and if I may, are those… real?"
"What are you referring to?"
"N-nevermind. I should… um… probably find Kent to let him know I'm alright! Th-thank you for saving me, I promise I'll get you something in return!" Sain bowed his head and bolted off.
I can't believe it. I always thought Lady Lyndis' assets were ample, but Karla's are simply overwhelming! Are all Sacaen women like that? It just so happened that as he ran down to the ship's mess, the paladin found the perfect person to ask.
"Guy, can I please have a word with you?" Sain bent over, completely out of breath.
"Is this about a woman?" Matthew, who happened to be sitting with the Sacaen swordsman, stood up.
"Multiple women, actually," Sain responded.
"Oh, right, forgot who I was talking to for a moment. Well, I'll be off then. See ya!" the spy waved and slipped away.
"So, how can I help you?"
"A few things, actually. But first, and forgive my bluntness, do all Sacaen woman have large breasts?"
"Uh, what?"
"Just answer the question."
"Umm, well, eh," Guy stuttered, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation, "I was under the impression that they had normal-sized breasts and, err, Lycian women just had really small ones."
Oh. OK then…
"Alright, thank you. My other question is how can I impress a Sacaen woman?"
"Uh, are you sure you should be trying to court Lady Lyn? I mean, you don't seem to be her type."
"No, of course not! I am more interested in the new addition, Karla."
"I see. Well, she is rather pretty," Guy conceded.
"So… how exactly should I court her?"
"How should I know?"
"You're Sacaen, aren't you? Don't you have unique mating rituals?"
"Probably, but I don't know any of them; I never really paid attention to much other than swordplay,"
"You're a real romantic, aren't you," Matthew called out sarcastically.
"Wha- Matthew?! How long have you been listening?!" Sain blushed, completely embarrassed.
"About as long as she has," Matthew appeared from behind a barrel and gestured to Karla, who had somehow walked in without making a single sound. Sain expected her to have a rather disgusted expression, but to his amazement, she was smiling.
"I must admit I'm flattered. Your skill with a lance is impressive enough, but no-one has ever gone as far as you have in an attempt to win my heart. Were you really willing to learn my customs just to properly court me?"
"Yes, of course! As I told my fellow knight Kent, your very presence brings more warmth to my heart than anyone I've ever met! Now how can I repay you for saving me?"
"It's me you should be thanking, Sain!" Serra pouted and put her hands on her hips, "I was the one who used a rescue staff to get you back on board before you drowned! All Karla did was act as a pillow and an umbrella!"
"Uh, can somebody please fill me in?" Guy folded his arms.
"Lady Serra, I am most grateful for your assistance in returning me to my love!" Sain bowed to the bishop.
"Getting a little ahead of yourself, don't you think?" Matthew smirked.
"It's the truth!" Sain rebutted, then turned to Karla, "I am in love with you and I promise to continue impressing you for as long as I live!"
"We'll see…" the swordswoman chuckled lightly, bringing joy to Sain's heart that gave him more than enough courage to endure the coming battles.
Oh, almost forgot to mention, this was a challenge pairing from Cormag Ravenstaff. I'll probably do another one at some point in the future when I have more time.
For the record, the original plan was to do an Awakening/Rekka no Ken crossover featuring Frederick a.k.a. "Freddy Bear", but I don't have the Wil at the moment.
See what I did there?