A/N Sooo… it's a (probably) shitty self-insert? Not much else to say. Yeah, I don't know why I started this either. It just kinda… happened. If you don't mind the humor in the first few sentences, you might like this.
Until further notice, this is a one-shot and shall remain a one-shot, unless people want me to continue for some reason unknown to me.
Also: SPOILERS, though I do hope the warning is unnecessary. I'll be referencing endgame stuff of a two year old game, so you have been warned. Not that it wasn't obvious enough.
Until next time~
-Storm 2017
It all began with a dark and stormy night…
Actually, y'know what? Fuck it, that's not how I'm going to start this. As accurate as that is, this story isn't nearly epic enough for something as dramatically clichè as that.
This is how it actually went down.
A sharp mechanical ding, thudding footsteps, dulled blows to various limbs. I was dumped unceremoniously onto a couch, using all of my energy to not pass out from both exhaustion and alcohol, my head pounding. I'm fairly sure I was in the apartment I shared with a few others, but was definitely drunk enough that it could have been anywhere and wouldn't have cared much. It was probably one in the morning-ish. Yeah, let's go with one in the morning-ish. My cousin was there too, so that explained why I had been moved. She had probably stuffed me into someone's back seat to drive us home. Hehe… that mental image was pretty funny, mainly because my cousin, although older than me, was shorter than me by a good few inches.
I remembered… one of my friends had handed me one of those red solo cups. You know the ones. Assuming it was water, I had chugged the thing. What? I was thirsty... Anyways, bad move on my part, but it was too late. I had a concentrated amount of alcohol moving through my veins and it was already afflicting my judgment. Over the course of several increasingly fuzzy hours, I had definitely consumed more liquor, only making things worse.
"Uuugh… whose idea was it to bring out booze, anyway?" I managed to slur at my best friend-slash-cousin, who was standing above me, shaking her head in disappointment, but my mind was too muddled to even put two and two together, much less comprehend words. Hopefully no one would mind if I just blacked out on the couch…
"You're lucky I was there, Liz. I swear, you can be so trusting it's unbelievable. Did you really expect for college students to not bring alcohol to a party?" She continued to shake her head as she chastised me, not that it was doing any good at the moment.
"Yessir," I giggled drunkenly at her once she had paused, before dropping my head onto the cushion, my fluffy hair already tangling against the fabric. The lecture continued afterwards, but the sound faded, falling into the back of my mind as I closed my eyes, completely, indubitably plastered.
"Ooof!" It was suddenly dark, the light source I had taken for granted earlier off. My side ached, I was completely disoriented, and my spinning head made me want to vomit. The alcohol still in my system wasn't helping either. It took a moment for me to understand that I had rolled off the couch in my sleep. Apparently my cousin had given up and left me to sleep it off. I gagged, spit-up working it's way up my burning throat.
Welp, not gonna be able to sleep now, I thought to myself, rubbing the side that had taken the brunt of the fall. I was still very much drunk, and was definitely not going to sober up by sleeping. I mentally cursed myself for dozing off; I had to get the booze out of my system before I could rest again, or else I could seriously hurt my internal organs. Standing as carefully as one could whilst shit-faced, I managed to get to the bathroom without throwing up, breaking anything or, hopefully, waking my roommates. After emptying the contents of my stomach into the toilet, I stumbled to my small room to find something to keep me awake. Practically falling onto my bed, I searched the bedside table, blindly flapping my arm around in the hopes it would hit first thing my fist grasped was a small rectangular prism, so familiar I could identify it at a touch. It was my 3Ds, a cartridge already in the system.
Turning the thing on, I blindly pressed the A button in hopes of selecting the game, my fine motor skills shot. It was Fire Emblem. Specifically, Fates. While not my favorite title, which was Echoes, it would do. Ever since playing Awakening I'd been hooked on the franchise, and Fates did not disappoint. Well, the story was… questionable at best, but the actual battle mechanics were still up to scratch. And also… the shipping. I'd be lying if I didn't say the shipping was definitely a reason I liked the games, but it was also the characters themselves that pulled me in. Actually, I'd just bleached my ridiculously curly hair so I could cosplay the default Corrin. I even had red contacts for it.
I started up the first non-classic file I saw; so sue me, there was no way I was ruining a play through just because I was drunk. Where'd I leave off on this one? Not even past the tutorial levels, apparently. I still had to let Hans be slaughtered by the generic samurai, something I always took some amount of pleasure in, even though he doesn't die. The dirtbag deserved it.
I was just about to watch my Corrin scare the living daylights out of him when the game froze. No matter what I did, I couldn't softreset or even turn it off. That's what I get for playing on a beat-up original 3Ds while drunk, I suppose. Plugging the thing in, I started searching for my laptop so I could try to work on a few of my stories. Pulling it from my computer bag, I booted it up and opened Google Docs, my preferred workspace. Within the asinine number of folders within folders, I found the one containing the chapters for my first publication; Changing Fate. The title's pretty misleading, as it's actually a novelization of Awakening, not Fates.
Opening the most recent chapter, I began typing whatever came to mind. Nearly every word was misspelled, but I would fix it later when I was neither drunk nor tipsy with exhaustion. However, despite my best efforts, I slowly drifted off to sleep, the screen glowing mechanically in the dark.
I groggily opened my eyes, expecting a hangover of momentous proportions, only for them to snap open. There wasn't one. Instead, it was only a loose cloud in the back of my mind. On the contrary, I was acutely aware of my surroundings, which were definitely not my room. I was on the cold, hard, lumpy ground, wind howling in my ears and rain pelting the rest. I was soaked and frozen to the bone, and had strong piercing gusts screaming in my face.
My first few thoughts? What the hell happened to my clothes, where am I, and why does this seem vaguely familiar?
Slowly rising to my haunches, I examined my apparel. Much to my confusion, I had on a set of armour with some sort of cloak on top. Not some cheap plastic thing you can get on ebay for thirty bucks that looks completely fake; actual metal armour that works as armour should, if its weight was any indication. I could distinctly feel the wind tearing at my thighs, like I didn't have a thick piece of clothing to protect them. Which I didn't. Which made no sense unless it was a seduction tactic, but even that idea didn't hold much water.
As for where I was, I was sitting on the ground next to a… cliff? No, a canyon. I could just barely see the outer edges through the dark storm, and rope bridges swinging wildly in the wind. So I was on an island of sorts in the center of a canyon in the middle of nowhere, soaked to the bone, without shoes. It's an understatement to say I was pissed. Standing up, I shouted out into the apparent night.
"What the hell?!" Not that it did any good, with the howling wind and pounding rain. If this was some elaborate prank someone was pulling on me for whatever convoluted reason, I was going to bring karma down on them with a vengeance. I wavered for a moment as reality started sinking in, when a sudden burst of pain hit the back of my head, and I blacked out for the third time.
I was getting really tired of waking up in strange places. What was worse was that I was getting used to it. I had a splitting headache, which made no sense since the one thing I clearly remembered was not being hungover, and felt bruised all over from when I had presumably hit the ground. I was dry, with some sort of sheet draped on top of me. I was also no longer wearing the armor. Sitting up, I realized that I didn't have anything on except what appeared to be lingerie, and was thankful for the sheet, which I clutched to my chest.
"Looks like you're up. Took you long enough. And, uh, sorry for the bump on your head," I whipped my head around, my ridiculous curls flopping about as I searched for the source of the strong yet effeminate voice. It was a young woman who had spoken. Wait… Rinkah? One of the characters from Fates was alive and standing in front of me. And, from the looks of it, I… I had taken Corrin's place? It couldn't be. But this was too real to put down as a joke. The woman who was supposedly Rinkah looked the part, as she was incredibly buff and the mask resting atop her white hair was incredibly detailed. Her abs were definitely not painted on. The cloth strip that covered her breast looked real too, not just sewn to a skin-colored or strapless bra. The rest of the room was scarily realistic as well, down to the intimidating club that rested against the wall.
"It's good to see you up, Kamui," The Flame Tribe warrior greeted me, apparently waiting for me to speak.
"Uhhh… what...? I'm not… my name's not Kamui…" Not the first thing that came to mind, but it was probably the first that would make sense to Rinkah. The warrior continued on as though she had expected this.
"I suppose they called you something else, right? So what is your name?" She asked, still under the impression that I was Corrin, or rather Kamui, Corrin's japanese name.
"No, you don't understand…" I said, trying to stop my voice from letting all of my fear and confusion break the dam that was my composure so I could at least be comprehensible. "I'm not who you think I am…" I would have continued, but my voice was not doing what I wanted it to, and clearly shook as I spoke. This time Rinkah frowned.
"You must be confused," She reasoned. "But it's impossible I'm mistaken. We have a trustworthy informant that said you were in the area, princess. Besides, don't you remember me?"
"But… I'm not a princess… I'm not even from around here," I shook my head, not trusting my vocal cords any longer.
Rinkah furrowed her brow, obviously confused herself. "That's impossible," the Oni Savage refused. "There's no way we made a mistake,"
"Besides," She continued, "if you aren't her, you could pass as her twin." I internally cursed my then bleached hair, which did make me look strikingly similar to the draconic princess. It took a second to process the other implications, though I didn't exactly have time to contemplate them.
"Assuming I believe you're not the princess," The warrior interrupted my increasingly startling train of thought. "Do you know what happened?" Rinkah asked skeptically. I shook my head despite already knowing exactly what had occurred. She sighed, evidently preparing to exposite the shit out of something I already knew.
"Nohr attacked the border fortress, and afterwards one of our warriors found you. We had orders that if anyone found Kamui to capture her, and assuming you aren't lying, you look nearly identical. You've been out ever since, so about three days, two on the back of a pegasus." I nodded again, compartmentalizing everything. It explained why my head hurt; I'd been out for three days from a concussion and probably some after-effect of being dragged through dimensions, like summoning sickness in Magic: the Gathering. So far, I'd hold my tongue about what I knew, but now my priorities were different.
"What's going to happen to me?" Rinkah shrugged.
"Don't know. Not even our shaman could wake you once we brought you here, so we thought you had some magic illness he couldn't detect. We couldn't interrogate you, so it fell to me to nurse you back to health. Now spill it; what were you doing there?" Her tone was friendly throughout, though she did take the club into her hands towards the end.
"I have no idea," I blurted, hoping she would believe me, as naive as it was. I really didn't want any more bruises. She snorted, clearly not impressed with my story. "However," I amended quickly, "I might know how to find Kamui."
"Why should I believe you? Any grunt would be able to say that; give me a reason not to attack." The warrior's tone turned threatening, and I shrunk backwards under the threat of her club, icy terror dripping to my stomach.
"I'm not a Nohrian soldier! I'm not even from Nohr! I have no idea how I got there, but I have a sort of prophetic ability. I might be able to help you," I was thinking on my feet and talking out of my ass, something which I would probably regret later. I had nearly encyclopedic knowledge of Fire Emblem in general which I could hopefully abuse to escape death. Still, that didn't change the fact I was terrified she would figure out the lie.
"Oh? Then tell me; who am I?" Rinkah, so far, hadn't introduced herself or the Flame tribe, so I was actually at a slight advantage. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, mustering up all of my lackluster acting skills to feign concentrating as though I were using some power.
"You are… Rinkah, daughter of the Chieftain of the Flame Tribe," She seemed impressed, but I continued. "We are currently in a Flame Tribe village in Hoshido. And, if I'm not mistaken, there should be a number of Hoshidan soldiers on the way here to collect me, still under the impression that I'm the princess. One of them will be a ninja who was also a prisoner with you in Nohr, only living by Kamui's graces." Rinkah was silent, and I hoped that I hadn't gone too far. Suddenly, she laughed.
"We'll see how accurate you are when they arrive," She grinned, though there seemed to be something off-putting about it. Maybe the intense mood whiplash. "If this ninja is with them as you say, then I'll believe your story. Until then, I suppose you'll have to stay here and gain strength in case you travel back with them." I nodded, and since my life was no longer in immediate danger, I focused on my other priorities.
"Er… could I have my clothes back?" I asked sheepishly, embarrassed that I even had to ask.
"Of course," She chuckled at my obvious discomfort. "I might get your armor to you eventually, too, but don't expect it anytime soon. Your clothes have been cleaned, and are in there." She motioned to a woven basket near the foot of the mat I was sitting on. I nodded again, to which Rinkah was apparently satisfied with and left me be, closing the sliding door behind her.
Now alone, I finally took in my surroundings. I was probably in a spare room given how bare it was, but I noticed a few details I hadn't before. The walls and door were made of paper, or at least partially so, making me think of Japanese housing. Actually, since I was apparently in Hoshido, this shouldn't have surprised me.
The mat I was perched on, a tonfoon I believe, was of long woven grasses, as with the floor, and there seemed to be a few other baskets of personal items or clothes. Keeping the sheet clutched to my chest in some act of unnecessary modesty, I scooted over to the basket my host had motioned to. Inside were the clothes Corrin wore beneath her armor; a black leotard and thigh-length black socks that were more like leg warmers than anything, considering that they left my feet exposed. No shoes, either. Figures. I slipped them on, and despite the leg warmer socks, I felt much more comfortable having done so.
I also noticed something around my neck as I changed; a semi-loose choker of solid metal, inlaid with some sort of gem. It didn't have a catch in the back, meaning there was no way I could take it off. Given that it was around my neck, I also had no clue exactly what it looked like, but it felt fairly thin and intricately carved like… waves? The oval gem in the center being the thickest part. It was also warm to the touch, probably why I hadn't felt it sooner, but that was most likely from body heat. The gem, however, was cold, like ice.
"Hello there," I squeaked as I stumbled backwards, my hands flying from my neck to the ground behind me, as there was suddenly a small blue reptile in my face. The Astral Dragon, Lilith, was floating in front of me with no more noise than a rabbit. There was a dragon in front of me. Meaning that there was no chance of this being an extremely elaborate prank.
This… was either a dream or nightmare come true. I'd always been taken with the idea of magic. Being able to do pretty much anything you want so long as you practice hard enough really appealed to me. And here I was, in a world literally full of magic and dragons. But I was also stuck in a world of magic and dragons, both of which are very dangerous.
"Okay, Lilith is right in front of me. Deep breaths, Liz, deep breaths." I muttered to myself, struggling to calm my pounding heart. Too much too fast and way too many questions racing through my mind.
"So you do know about this realm. Perhaps more than I."
Okay… now's not the time to freak out.
"Lilith, why am I here?" I started compartmentalizing everything. Again. I felt like that would be a recurring thing. I'd freak out later in private when there was no need for whatever I'd been dragged here for, if there even was a reason.
"I failed to catch Corrin when she went over the side of the Bottomless Canyon," the blue dragon admitted sheepishly.
"Ohhhhh," Suddenly everything, or at least most of what had happened so far (barring the fact that I was actually there), made sense. Because, y'know, traveling to a completely different dimension-slash-world is completely normal. Eh. I can roll with it.
"Without Corrin, you need someone to push along events so that Anankos won't destroy the world because he's bored," I summed up the entire plot of Revelations in the single sentence, albeit leaving out a few twists.
"Yes," Lilith confirmed. "To aid you in this task, the Great Moro has granted you a few gifts." The dragon added.
"That explains the costume change, I guess,"
Then Lilith added, "But I came to ask you a favor as well,"
Oh no. Oh nononono. Fuck this shit I'm out levels of "no thanks". She was going to ask for some ridiculous task that only I could complete because reasons. Video game logic doesn't work in real life, people!
"So, spill the beans," Might as well just get it over with now.
"Assuming that means yes, please help Corrin if you can. It's my fault she's stuck in that place, but I can't do anything about it," The little dragon explained. And… yup. She was looking at me with puppy eyes. Fucking. Puppy. Eyes. They always get to you.
After a beat of silence, I answered.
"Of course," I said while mentally screaming at myself. I could never turn down helping someone, even if I was way in over my head. Which I definitely was. I mean, seriously, why did I agree so readily? Could I even survive that long? But then again, those puppy eyes. Because those instantly mean you have to do whatever. I was going to have a hell of a time when Elise and Sakura joined. "But now you should go before Rinkah comes back. This could be difficult to explain."
"One more thing," Lilith added again. "That necklace you have, it can call upon me in the Astral Planes once per moon. It's basically a dragon vein, if that helps."
"Got it," I nodded. "I'll use it if I need to."
If I can even figure out how to...
"I'll take my leave, then." With a small magic circle, Lilith left a flash in her wake, the light fading momentarily.
For the first time since arriving, I was truly alone with just my thoughts for company. They wandered to and fro, worrying about exactly what was going to happen. If I wanted to reach Valla, there was only one path I could take; Revelations. Technically Conquest, too, but given that only Corrin and Azura could pass into Valla via magical water gate, that wouldn't really work. I was also more familiar with Birthright, but I didn't want to leave two war-torn nations in my wake, and I certainly didn't want to lose any units.
No, they're people, not game pieces on a board!
And… how would I get back? Could I even go back? And how much time would have passed if I did? I couldn't afford to suddenly disappear for years; I was riding mostly on scholarships, and I would definitely lose my job working minimum wage for ridiculous hours. What about my family? Friends? They would be worried sick. They might've thought I'd been kidnapped or something. It's actually kind of ironic, because I had been kidnapped; by a great and powerful dragon to another world entirely, all because Lilith let her grasp slip.
Whatever, I internally sighed. What's done is done. I can't change the past, so I'll change the future.
Kind of sudden and happy-go-lucky, I know, but there really isn't much use of getting mad about something that's already happened. Besides, I didn't think Moro would even let me go back home until I at least saved Corrin.
Being stuck in the Fates universe? Kinda sounds like a shitty self-insert.
But this was not a bad fanfiction; this was real life.
"What're you staring into space for?" My attention snapped up to the open door, where Rinkah was leaning against the frame, a wooden bowl in one hand and a bucket in the other. There were also delicious smells wafting in on the light breeze that now moved through the room, along with the cold outside air. There was a moment where both my stomach growled and I shivered involuntarily due to the sudden temperature change.
"I've got a lot on my mind," I answered truthfully once I had settled. The fewer lies I tell, the less likely the ones I have told will be found out.
"Y'know, assuming you aren't Kamui, I don't remember you introducing yourself," The warrior observed, lifting a brow. "How about you do that now? It's actually kind of rude that you haven't yet."
"Oh, sorry," I apologised quickly, attempting to stand on shaky legs as I did so. Key word "attempting". Instead, I ended up stumbling back onto my knees, Rinkah snickering in the background. Not wanting to repeat my folly, I settled for bowing stiffly from the floor, my hair tumbling off my back. I said, "I'm Elizabeth, Liz for short; nice to meet you," before straightening out.
"No need to be formal," Rinkah laughed. "It's not like I'm royalty or anything. Here, you must be hungry," She held out the wooden bowl, the source of the wonderful scent that made me realize exactly how hungry I was; which was starving. Back home, everyone always joked about how I was a veritable vacuum, which gave me a twinge of melancholy.
"Thank you," I said, pushing that thought aside and accepting the dish, which I recognized to be miso soup.
"We can't have you starving before the Hoshidans get here," She shrugged, though I knew her supports well enough that I could tell she did somewhat care for my well-being.
As I devoured my meal, Rinkah explained what her father had decided to do with me.
"Since your claim not to be Nohrian is plausible, Father has decided to let you roam the village during the day once you've recovered enough. You'll stay here with us, though, just in case, and will be monitored at all times by one or more of our warriors." I just nodded, not wanting to speak so I didn't accidentally ruin the whole thing and because, well, food.
"You mentioned a shaman, yes?" I asked once I was done. Rinkah nodded.
"He's our main healer, though everybody knows one or two simple remedies. If anyone falls extremely ill and cannot be cured, it's up to him to confer with our God as to what to do. Now that you bring it up, there was nothing he could do to wake you up. Not even conferring with the Fire God," She finished by shaking her head.
"Then… would you mind if I spoke to him?" He might have gleaned some insight about who I was by talking to this Fire God, and I wanted to know exactly what he knew.
"I don't see a problem with it. But that visit will have to wait." Right. I was still extremely weak, given how just standing was an issue.
"For now, you can clean up with this," Rinkah placed the wooden bucket on the ground, the contents being water and what I assumed to be a wash cloth.
"Oh. Uh, thanks." I managed to say. Rinkah just stood there, while I awkwardly looked abashed at the ground. Eventually she chuckled as it dawned on her of my reluctance to strip. She stepped out of the room, then closed the door most of the way, so that only a tiny crack remained. The warrior leaned against the sliver, blocking what little view there was left.
"We of the Fire Tribe are not ashamed of our bodies," Rinkah started explaining as I took off my shirt. The door muffled her speech a little, but I was glad for the company. "Except when with the opposite sex, but I suppose then it is natural for most."
That made plenty of sense, given how Rinkah was effectively walking around with just a bra on top.
I paused as I held the bucket. There, in the water, was what apparently my reflection. My earlier fears were proven true as I started at the nearly alien face on the surface. Red irises, ears pointed enough to not draw attention yet different enough that if you knew they were pointed, would seem obvious. Compounded with my bleached hair, and I could have passed as Corrin's twin.
The thing around my neck also came into view: a silver choker inlaid with a single blue gem. The metal was carved into waves, as I had felt earlier. I had literal gray waves on my neck. There's no words to explain the heavy-handed symbolism someone had, for all I knew, permanently stuck around my neck. It was like somebody was screeching You're a main character! in my ears.
"You done yet?" Rinkah called back, breaking my self-induced daydreaming.
"N-no, sorry,"
"Hurry up,"
This, was going to be difficult, not that any of my machinations attempting to delve deeper into how much shit I was in were saying otherwise.
So I spent two weeks learning to walk again, and it was just as fun as it sounds. Lots of me walking from one side of the room to the other and back again over and over. When it wasn't painful, so after the first week, it was boring. Boring boring boring boring booooooooooooooring. The only breaks in said pain and boredom were when I was given my meals and bucket-bath, and Rinkah's visits. She popped in once a day or so, sometimes to deliver my meals, sometimes just to talk. Probably just to check on my progress, but it was comforting to have some semblance of a routine.
Eventually, she said the words I had been hoping and dreading to hear.
"Looks like you're well enough to go about life," the tribeswoman commented as she watched me demonstrate how I was doing.
"Time to meet the shaman?"
"Time to meet the shaman."
She turned to exit the room, pausing to motion for me to follow. We padded through the quiet halls, to an open sliding door that revealed the outside world.
The mountains themselves were beautiful, if not chilly, and the sky above clear but for a few wispy stratus clouds. The village was on a plateau that looked down on a gorgeous valley; a fast flowing river gurgled its way through the center, untamed plants of both deep and light hues concentrated near the bottom, and became more scraggly and spread out as they worked their way up.
At first I though the valley was shrouded in fog, but then I realized why the sky was so empty. We were just above the cloud cover. This was also the reason why there was no snow in the village despite it being early to mid spring. At least, that's roughly when Corrin was in the village, if Shirasagi's blooming cherry trees were to be believed. The air must have been very thin, but I suppose I'd gotten used to it while I had been out.
My breath condensed immediately after hitting the cold air, and I wondered why exactly I wasn't freezing as well; then I remembered that I had lived with rapidly fluctuating temperatures and completely unpredictable weather patterns all my life. I was practically immune to extreme temperatures, on both ends of the scale. At least, I was for the first minute, then the cold reached my bones and I was freezing along with my breath.
"J-jeez… how d-do you live h-here?!" I managed to say through chattering teeth.
"We of the Flame Tribe have fire running through our veins," Rinkah said it proudly, as though it was an impressive feat she had just accomplished. When I didn't respond because I was freezing, she started walking and again waved for me to follow. As we made our way through the village, me shivering like a maniac, my unexplainable nerves kicked in when I noticed some of the locals staring at me. Some had curiosity, others hostility. All of them made me feel self-conscious, and I literally started following Rinkah like a lost duckling, looking down to avoid having eye contact with anyone. I can stand on a stage and perform, but I can't go anywhere new without feeling extremely uncomfortable. Weird, right?
The chieftain's daughter led me through the wooden houses, all of the same japanese style as the one I had woken in, if not smaller and a little plainer. There was one oddity among them; it was on the small side even compared to the others, and had beads and curtains strung behind the open door.
"In here," Rinkah stopped at the bottom of the steps that led to the door, motioning for me to go up.
"You're not coming?" I was seriously freaking out now. I had to go into somebody's house alone, who also happens to be the wisest person in the village. I could temporarily deal with being torn from everything I knew and loved, but walking into somewhere new and foreign alone? No thank you.
She shook her head.
"Whatever you speak of is no business of mine." I could almost feel myself tensing up with anxiety. Okay, I could do this. I could go into the shaman's house and talk to him.
I nodded to Rinkah to show I understood, and tepidly walked up the wooden steps. I approached the half-open door, knocking timidly on the frame. Then a split-second panic attack happened. Was I disturbing him? Would he be mad if I did? Would he even have answers my questions? What if he refused to answer them?
"Come in," The voice was cracked with age and kindly, seeming to have a tone of unearthly wisdom. It calmed me enough to actually move again. Doing as it said, I brushed aside the hanging beads. Clack, clack, they bumped against each other in the incense-filled air. I let them fall behind me, clinking against each other again. It was pleasantly warm despite the cold draft that flowed in from the open door.
"Close the door, child," The kindly voice rasped, "We wouldn't want you catching cold," I set about the task, murmuring apologies. Immediately the temperature rose, becoming quite cozy, but the bright natural light from outside was also cut off, leaving just the candles to light the small-ish room. Standing awkwardly at the entrance, I stared at the ground, anxiety swelling in my chest again. What was I supposed to do? Would it be rude to just sit down and expect him to do something? Or was I being rude by not saying anything?
"There is no need to be so nervous, child," The shaman chuckled in his weathered voice. "Come, sit down. I don't bite," I looked up, peering into the candlelight. The shaman looked the part, appearing almost like Gondi in monks' robes, carved wooden beads on a large necklace around his neck. He was sitting cross-legged on a mat, near to a central fire that heated the room. He motioned to another mat directly across from him, which I knelt upon, sitting on my feet. I've always found it more comfortable that way instead of the whole "criss-cross-applesauce" thing.
"What is your name, child?" A friendly greeting, the silence not oppressive as I found my voice.
"...Liz,"
"Why have you come to me, Liz?" The Gondi incarnate asked.
"Information," I answered after a pause, my poor excuse for confidence returning now that I was sitting down and less exposed.
"And what information would that be?" A glint in his eye told me that he already knew.
"You tell me,"
Humour leapt into his voice as he answered. "There are many, many things I could tell you, child. What would you like to know first?" I contemplated the question for a moment.
"Why do you keep calling me 'child'?" He outright laughed, a deep, hearty sound.
"Because you are one. I am exponentially older than you, so in comparison you are a child."
"Fair enough," I conceded. "Question two; do you know why you couldn't wake me?" This would be the question that told me exactly how much this guy knew. He chuckled a little, and at once I knew he'd caught onto what I was doing.
"I believe your body is still adjusting to this world, so our magic does not affect you as it does us," Oh yeah, he knew.
"And will that change?" I pressed anxiously. I really didn't want to be immune to healing magic if I was going to have to fight in a technically four-way war. Or any war, for that matter.
"As you breath our air, eat our food and drink our drink, your body should slowly become more receptive to it." He answered assuredly, and I let out a sigh I didn't know I was holding, unnoticed tension releasing from my muscles. After my moment of relief, I asked something else.
"So you know who, or rather what, I am?" He chuckled again, as though talking to me amused him.
"You are a confused child sent here through the Dragon's Gate to help, though help with what I know not." I nodded, showing that I understood his terminology.
"I know what I'm here for, and have some idea of how to do it, but… I'm scared…" My voice was cracking. Great. I was on the verge of tears. Believe it or not, but I actually quite wasn't so upset that I was crying. It's more like at some point growing up, my body had realized that shedding tears when I was upset brought me empathy. Damn my child self for learning to cry to receive attention.
"Will I ever be able to go back?" I blinked, trying my best to prevent the unintentional partially-false tears from spilling over. The shaman shook his head.
"I do not know, dear child, but I do know that you will not be alone," For some reason, that comforted me more than I think anything else he could have said. I wasn't alone, because I knew that people I would meet would support me. Probably. Well… except for the racist pineapple. It would take awhile for him to warm up to me. And Saizo, but that guy didn't trust anyone. Actually no one would be especially hospitable to me, aside for maybe Rinkah, Hayato, Mozu and the little sisters.
"Thank you," I said, regaining my composure and standing on legs that were starting to fall asleep. "For speaking with me."
"Of course, child," He smiled gently at me, then turned serious. "You need all the encouragement you can get," I nodded, turning to leave, when I heard one last thing. "Good luck, Liz." Smiling to myself, I opened the door and stepped out into the ridiculously cold air. Yeah… I'd need all the luck possible.
And I'd also need better clothes, because it was fucking cold.
A/N This is absolutely a self insert, but Liz is not my real name. The backstory of Liz is not real, though it's about as real as I can get it without being boring. Even though it kinda already is... She's also about 19-20ish (not my actual age as of uploading this). If people actually like this, then I'll solidify it in a later chapter.
If you see any typos or mistakes, feel free to tell me. I don't bite... usually. But seriously, everything helps.
So now me spewing whatever comes out of my brain:
Other stuff… My inner muse likes this one atm, so I already have several ideas as to make Fates' story make some semblance of sense. And also easily make a hot spring scene with what I have, because the best way to attract attention is flashing boobs and butts. Or just mention Camilla. Eh, if I do continue this, then it'll be awhile 'til Camilla joins the party.
I kinda dislike how many times I jump-cutted in the first bit. Didn't really flow well. But I think it ended decently. There was supposed to be more scenes from other characters' views used to establish tone and whatnot, but I ended up scrapping them because they didn't really fit. Three guesses as to where they were before I cut them, if you win here's an internet cookie.
So don't you just hate when you think of all your best ideas in the dead of the night with nothing at the ready to write them down? Because here I am a 1:30 in the morning typing this out, only a few days before the school season starts. Kill me please (don't actually. It would involve you having to figure out where I live and I don't fancy the idea of a stalker).
Until next time~
-Storm 2017
