Author's Note: I love reading fan fiction, and I love Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones. So I was pleased to discover that there are Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones reveling on I also happen to think that Ross is one of the greatest characters in the game, if you raise him right, so to my surprise and horror, I discovered that there are only four fanfics in the Fire Emblem category that have Ross as a main character (and two of them are oneshots). So, I dedicate my first-ever fic to the "Son-of-warrior-Garcia-Ross"!
Disclaimer: I don't own the plot Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, or any of the characters featured in the game. If I did, I would create an ending for the Ross x Lute support conversations. Stupid game programmers, forgetting something like that….prepares to be stoned for the "Stupid" comment
Warriors And Prodigies
"Wow….so this is the capital of Renais!" Ross exclaimed as he stood in front of the entrance gates, taking in the sights and sounds of the bustling city, its brick streets filled with pedestrians and vendors advertising their goods, and the marble buildings lining the roads, stretching towards the sky. It had been a year and a half since the defeat of the Demon King, and after four months spent rebuilding his home village of Ide, Ross had left his hometown to embark upon a journey, "To, you know, increase my skills", he told his dad. His father, "The Great Garcia", as he was known among the Renais soldiers back when he was a troop commander, agreed to the idea, albeit with reluctance over the fact that he wouldn't see his son for some time. Ross smiled as he thought back to their parting, his dad gruffly clasping his shoulders and telling him that he would always have a home to return to in Ide, tears forming at the corner of his eyes. Of course, as soon as Ross asked if he was crying, Garcia slapped him on the back of the head and told him to hurry up and leave, since there was no sense in dawdling.
The berserker had spent the next 14 months roaming the countryside, traveling from village to village, and helping out with whatever tasks the residents needed help with, be it helping with the construction of a new barn, or fighting off bandits, remnants of the once rampant bands of rogues and murderers that ruled over the mountainous areas during the chaos of Grado's invasion of Renais. Ross soon discovered that wandering around was more lonely then he thought it would be, seeing as how the villages were separated by long stretches of forests, or rugged mountain paths. He did run into Artur three months ago, who was also traveling from village to village, helping the peasantry with their illnesses and tasks. They had happily wandered around as a duo for two months, until Artur decided to travel south-west to visit his own village and check on how it was doing. Ross had bade him goodbye, and went back to traveling on his own, until a week ago, when a Renais courtier had arrived at the inn he was staying at and gave him a letter from his dad. In it, Garcia explained that he had finished rebuilding Ide and had rejoined the Renais military as a troop leader. He also invited Ross to come down to the capital to visit him and several of his friends from the War of the Stones that had also joined up with the Renais forces. Ross, tired of his lonely drifting, quickly wrote a letter to his dad, explaining that he would immediately drop by for a visit.
The guards looked at this young man strangely, who had been standing still in front of the gates for over a minute, smiling and gazing off into the distance. The guard on Ross's left coughed awkwardly, shaking Ross out of his reverie. "Uh….I'm going to go in now.", he told the guards, who nodded, and walked through the gates into the capital, looking forward to meeting all his friends and learning about their own experiences after the war.
Several hours later, Ross was slightly frustrated. No, frustrated wasn't a strong enough word. Ross was PISSED. He had been wandering through the streets of the city for some time now, trying to find his way to the castle. He had tried several times to ask directions from other pedestrians, but they mostly ignored him and shoved past him, intent on their destinations. The last guy Ross asked told him to "Go past the plaza with the statue of the horse, or was it the dog, and then to go left until you reach a crossway, and then head left, but, maybe that part of the city's been changed…." Needless to say, Ross didn't trust his directions very much.
"Well, this is stupid. I survived for months traveling through some of the toughest mountain ranges on the continent, and found my way through deep forests, but I can't even navigate some stupid city streets…" Ross muttered to himself as he passed a candle-maker's shop for the tenth time. "Geez, even I'm not absent-minded enough to forget to place directions on a letter when I want the recipient to go to a certain destination. But Dad is getting older, so maybe it just slipped his-Whoah!" Ross collided with a purple-haired woman in front of him, and fell backwards onto the pavement. "Owww…." he moaned, as he rubbed his forehead, the other person copying his actions. "Sorry about that, miss." Ross sheepishly said, and held out a hand to help the lady up. The woman, obviously disgruntled, sprang up and immediately stormed off, muttering "How dare he….prodigies don't deserve this kind of treatment…."
"Man, what's her problem…" Ross grumbled, as he walked off in the opposite direction of the woman, only to run into a lamppost. "OW! Not again!" he exclaimed, looking up and glaring at the object with enough intensity to make the lamp flicker a little. It was then that he noticed the sign on the side of the pole, marked with the words "Renais Castle", and an arrow pointing straight ahead. Ross slowly looked down until he stared straight ahead, at the castle gates, a few intersections ahead. "Just how did I miss that?" Ross mused, as he walked towards the gates, and stopped when several guards emerged from a nearby building and moved in front of him.
"Halt! What is your purpose here?" queried one of the soldiers. "Um, I'm Ross, and I'm here to visit my dad, Garcia. I have a letter with his invitation on it." Ross stated, presenting the letter to the guard. The soldier's face brightened. "Oh, you're the son of Garcia, aren't you? Yeah, you served in the War of the Stones and were one of the people to face against the Demon King! Allright, go through!" The soldiers immediately stepped to the side, allowing Ross to pass through into the lush, verdant courtyard of the castle. Ross took no notice of the greenery though, instead storming through the courtyard, intent on getting inside, and talking to his dad about not forgetting to list directions.
"Son!" Garcia exclaimed as Ross entered the hall of the castle. He sprang out of the leather armchair he was sitting in and walked up to Ross. "So, how did your trip work out?" he asked him, motioning for him to take a seat in another armchair next to him. Ross sighed "Well, I got to travel to the other mountain villages…but it was getting kind of boring traveling by myself." Garcia nodded, "Well, if you want, you can actually stay here for a while. There isn't that much going on in the kingdom that requires the attention of the military, so you can just help me with training the recruits." Ross grinned, but then frowned and slumped into his chair. Garcia raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" He moaned, and said "To tell the truth, I don't know if I would be able to handle living in a city for a long time. The people here are a lot ruder and pushier then back home." Garcia nodded. "Yes, but sometimes, they're just so busy that they don't really pay attention to others around them. Once you get to know them, they're sometimes a lot nicer then expected."
Lute scowled as she made her way through the halls of the castle. The day had been nothing but bad luck for the self-proclaimed "Prodigy". First, she had spilled her entire vial of Bael venom, which she was going to use to create a more effective antidote that wouldn't be used up as fast to heal poisoning. Then, when she went out to pick up more from the nearest alchemical supplies store, she ran into some brutish and crude person who had collided with her and knocked her down. When she finally reached the store, it was out of Bael venom, and the store clerk told her that it would be up to two weeks to order a new supply. And finally, when she arrived back at the castle in a bad mood, a soldier had been standing in front of her room, with a letter from General Seth asking her to report to his room to discuss the "accidental" explosion from her lab that created a hole in the castle's west wall. "Has he no respect for someone like me? I could be doing something much more beneficial to civilization right now then explaining an accident…" she muttered, as she emerged in the entrance hall of the castle. She was halfway across when she noticed someone sitting in an armchair near the entrance, talking to Sir Garcia. "Those clothes…that body structure…IT'S YOU!" she screeched, and dove at her "assailant". "This is for knocking me ove-Ross?" Ross blinked. "Lute?"