Written for motivational event The Fanfiction Event
Pairing: Raven x Lucius (FE7 – Blazing Sword)
The event is something I created. I intended it to make me do things I wouldn't be doing otherwise, and in this case, it's writing a yaoi fiction. I'm an open-minded (straight) guy, and I don't mind homosexual relationships, but I normally would avoid reading yaoi fictions. I thought that it might be good for me to get some experience writing them, though. I roped two girls into writing yuri fictions too; there was a third but I'm not sure what she wants to do with this.
I've always wanted to write a story in the same format as Gordon Korman's No More Dead Dogs. This book is written in first person, but each chapter is written from a different character's point of view (though it repeats; not every chapter is written from a new character's POV). You'll see what I mean from this story.
I should also warn that there are a few spoilers in this story, mostly pertaining to the character support conversations. If you haven't finished FE7 before, the setting description will also spoil the story a little.
My chapters aren't as long as Korman's chapters, but I think it'll pass. I split the story into four short chapters. I intended it to be a oneshot, though I realized it's kind of long with all four chapters in one. Though I guess it doesn't appear as long on the website… Whatever. Here we go.
--
ENTER… Lucius
The Dread Isle. I knew why people called it that, but it still scared me a little as I walked through the thick mist. It almost felt as though I wouldn't be returning alive.
It was already the second time we were visiting the island, all thanks to Captain Fargus's help. May the grace of St. Elimine be with his pirate crew. We were now trekking to defeat Nergal before he could call a dragon through the gate. I didn't really understand all the details myself, since I was not involved in any of the important conversations between Lord Eliwood, Lord Hector, Lady Lyndis, Lord Pent, Lady Louise, and Archsage Athos. I just knew we had to defeat Nergal.
I looked ahead to see the back of he who had been my comrade for most of my life. Raymond. Ever since he casted that name away for the nickname Raven, he seemed to have changed, but to me he was still Raymond. He still cared about the people around him and the people he considered family. I was glad to be able to convince him to look for the truth behind the attack on House Cornwell instead of blindly aiming his rage at House Ostia, but I felt like there was still something missing.
He stomped ahead now, several sword lengths in front of me, and through the thick fog I could just barely make out the image of his back, following the rest of the group. I scurried along behind him, trying not to lose my way. Every now and then he paused, and his head seemed to move every so slightly before continuing on his way. It was hard to tell.
As we walked, my thoughts kept turning to him. I'm glad he was such a caring person. I can understand why he wished revenge for his family, but to so quickly blame Ostia from the rumors he heard… I wasn't so sure if the Raymond I knew would have done that, but I didn't want to think about it.
A light gust of wind picked up and blew my hair into the air. A nearby branch happened to catch the billowing yellow strands in its unforgiving clutches. I tried yanking lightly, but to no avail. As I struggled, a silhouette of a person made its way towards me.
"Still loitering about, Lucius?" a gruff voice asked. I could tell it was Raymond. I looked up to meet his gaze. "You do that and we're going to get left behind," he continued. He took a look at my situation and sighed. "If you kept your hair shorter, I doubt this would happen. And maybe fewer people would mistake you to be female."
I continued struggling with my caught hair. "Lord Raymond, there is a reason why I keep my hair like this." I looked at him from the corner of my eye. "Why don't you help?"
Raymond chuckled. "With what? You want me to cut your hair?" To my dismay, he drew his sword. "Ready?"
I nearly screamed. "Stop! Lord Raymond, that is a cruel, cruel joke. If you must cut something, why don't you cut the branch instead?"
Raymond paused to think, and then chuckled again. "So you can walk around with a branch hanging from your head?" He sheathed his sword and grabbed his axe. My eyes widened, as he had started using axes not too long ago. I squeezed my eyes shut as he drew back for a swing.
I heard a snap, and opened my eyes. Raymond had ended up cutting through the branch just a blade's width from my hair. As if the branch was an actual hand, I was able to gently pull the rest of the branch from my hair. "Thank you, Lord Ray-" I stopped as I turned to him. He had already put away his axe and was following the rest of the group. I shook my head, and ran my hands through my hair to clear out the remaining twigs as I ran towards him.
--
A/N: This chapter mostly describes the setting. The game doesn't go into detail with regards to the party's movements, so I just made up the single file marching scenario. It works, right?
There are lots of references to the past of the characters. They're what I gathered from the game's support conversations, along with a few tidbits I added here and there to make things flow.
I was kinda lazy to do extensive beta reading before posting this, but my writing usually doesn't contain many typos, thankfully enough.
I won't bother naming every chapter. The chapters are too short to have any central idea anyway.
