CHAPTER 1: Capital "BLUNT"
**Tellius Universe**
Mist loved her brother very much. After their father died and lost their mother prior, Ike was all Mist had left, and she would not have history repeat itself. While a melancholic moment for the both of them, they actually bonded even closer afterward. From the Mad King's War to the mighty battle against Ashera, Mist and Ike spent a lot more time together, fought side by side in battle, and learned a few things from one another. Up to now, Mist was one of the few who understood Ike better than everyone else (second to Soren, of course, but at least above Ranulf-and way, way above Aimee).
Indeed, Mist cherished her big brother a great deal. Over the years, however, Mist noticed a flaw in Ike's personality. A major flaw. A flaw that Shinon, no surprise there, incessantly reveled to obviously point out. Mist did not want to believe it at first because, this is Shinon we're talking about-the same guy who tried to end Ike's existence numerous of occasions (thank the gods that Shinon, the best sniper in Tellius, bore ill-fated luck every time). But when other members of the Greil Mercenaries gradually prattled about the topic likewise, Mist began to consider their supposals, and as she studied her brother more mindfully, she realized in worriment that they were right. What's worse, Ike had always been like this.
Mist could no longer keep it in. She had to tell somebody, someone who would clarify her conclusion and, maybe, help her resolve her brother's problem. And she knew just who to go to. She held the thought in mind as she made way to the large tent that stood at the center of the Greil Mercenaries' base of operations. She deciphered he would be there since it was the afternoon-which was usually the time everyone steered clear from Oscar while he was preparing food for dinner. Which left the tent to be the perfect place for tranquility and solitude.
Mist entered the tent, finding Oscar in the 'kitchen' cutting up vegetables, Ilyana dozing off on one of the dining tables, and Soren right next to Ilyana reading a huge book intensively. Mist gave a quick greeting to Oscar before she scampered straight for the tactician.
"Soren! Soren! I need to talk to you about something. It's urgent," She cried out once she was in front of Soren.
Soren exhaled an air of inaudible discontentment, though didn't lift his eyes from the page he was on.
"I'm occupied at this moment. We can converse at dinner," Soren raspingly replied.
Mist didn't want to push it with Soren, but this was dire.
"But Soren-"
"-Unless we are under attack, not now," Soren cut her off, turning to the next page.
"...It's about Ike."
Mist must've chanted the magic words, because Soren dropped the book onto the table, causing a loud thump in the process (it barely awoken the slumbering sloth nearby). Soren swiveled his head toward Mist's direction with eyes full of subtle horror, like she told him King Ashnard had came back to life.
"What happened to Ike?! Is he okay?! Has he been assaulted?!"
It was a strange sight to see the stoic tactician out of character. However, Mist overlooked it once to explain the details of her concern.
"Have you ever took notice of his bluntness," Mist asked.
"...Excuse me?"
Mist sat down on the opposite bench, looking squarely at Soren.
"Hello, the fact that he is blunt with people. I mean, it's great to have a brother who says exactly what's on his mind, but it came to my attention that he may be too blunt. Like, his thoughts pour right out of his mouth like a waterfall without pausing to consider the consequences."
"...His bluntness?"
"And he causes more negative effects than positive. Remember the time he chided Empress Sanaki, on the day we realized she was the apostle of Begnion, and we were pleading for her assistance with Crimea? Sure, she did helped us in the end, but boy, did she hated his guts after that. To this day, we still aren't allowed to go into the premises of Begnion until Ike becomes her fool for a day."
"...?!"
"Oh, and the time Ike was a member of the Crimean round table? In the beginning, the nobles were fine with hiring the Greil Mercenaries to take care of the castle grounds during the country's reconstruction. Then Ike had to spit his distaste over the entire aristocracy, right in their faces, and left Melior to escape from the 'over-perfumed snobs' as he put it. Now whenever we visit Elincia, we have to endure the overwhelming glares of the aristocrats."
Soren narrowed his red eyes at Mist, finally registering what she was saying.
"You interrupted my peace and quiet to complain about Ike's aversion toward nobility?"
"That's just a margin of his bluntness, Soren. There's more to it. He's not just outspoken to the rich or comments harshly without realizing, he's also open about his own imperfections. Ike is pretty much okay admitting to everyone that he's simple-minded, eats like a pack of Laguz, chooses training over socializing, and doesn't comprehend subtlety-or the obvious."
"So he's honest."
"Of course. Yet that leaves him vulnerable to be taken advantage of. You see how Shinon nitpicks Ike's attributes, and Ike going along with it. He doesn't know Shinon is, in actuality, being a jerk! Everyone is catching onto Ike's blunt nature, and that is not good. Soon, Ike will be known worldwide as A.) dense, B.) rude, and C.) impassive! Are you seeing the problem now?!"
Soren, if he wasn't trying to maintain the image of a cold-hearted, poised tactician, would've thrown his book at Mist's face for ruining his afternoon leisure. He could smell crisp chicken grilling from the fireplace, which meant that dinner would be fully prepared shortly. In spite of feeling malcontented, Soren pondered on the points Mist made. On one hand, he hardly cared if Ike was disrespectful to royalty. He applauded Ike on it, often joining him since he too deemed nobles as idiotic snoots. Furthermore, Soren admired his friend's headstrong honesty. He never had to fret about Ike withholding secrets or discomfort. He was true to himself, and that was all that mattered to Soren.
On the other hand, no one insulted Ike better than Ike himself. Ike's brief direct responses might give people the wrong impression. It's not that he was rude, dense, or impassive; it's just that Ike told the truth. And the truth made him look bad, and that perception can be manipulated. For example, Shinon. Oh, Shinon. Soren despised plentiful of individuals, Shinon being among them. The sniper's attempts to kill off Ike placed him in Soren's top ten list. If Shinon wasn't trying to use Ike as a target dummy, he made it his goal to exploit the many faults of the commander as much as possible. The absurdity of it all was Ike believed in Shinon's criticism. The more Ike was accepting of it, the more people paid attention, and the more people paid attention, the higher the risk Ike's reputation would become mockery.
Soren's pupils dilated upon revelation. He glared straight as an arrow at Mist, and in a soft, trembling voice, muttered, "You're right. Ike is endangered."
Mist heaved a sigh of alleviation. "Whew! I thought I was the only one. Well, since we're on the same page, there's another reason why I came to you. You're practically a genius when it comes to solutions, so I was hoping you might have a method of curing brother of his bluntness! Do you have any sort of tactics?"
"No."
"No?"
"No."
"What do you mean 'no'? Are you stumped?"
"Ike is the topic of our discussion. All tactics that would've been advantageous are all crossed out because, it's Ike. This is not akin to strategizing an attack on a battalion of pillagers. We're dealing with a person's mind. A mind that is perplexedly ingenuous. I should know; I thoroughly reviewed Ike during the years I have been at his side. I speak of accuracy when I say that I have no proposal that will ensure the disbandment of his conundrum. However, that just leaves with one, singular option left: you must talk to him directly about it."
Before Mist could yell out a bewildered "what!", the formerly reposing Ilyana jolted awake from her pending nap.
"Food! Hmmm..."
Ilyana receded to her usual lax self, drooping her head and arms on the table as she eyed the bowl of bread being placed on the table by Oscar.
"Easy there Ilyana, feasting is close at hand," Oscar kindly assured the thunder sage, wearing that perpetual closed-eyes expression. Oscar turned to Mist and Soren, sprouting a smile.
"Oh Mist, can you please alert everyone that dinner is ready?"
"Um, no problem Oscar," Mist eventually complied, slowly getting up from the bench.
Meanwhile, Soren retrieved his huge book from the table and lodged it beside him. He sent Mist a rigid stare.
"You'll have to confront him about it now before it is too late."
"Why do I have to do it alone? Can't you come with me?"
"You came to me for assistance. I have given you a suggestion, thus it is up to you to put the suggestion to use. If I had wished to enlighten Ike of his dilemma, I would have done it years ago."
"Why didn't you?"
"...It is not in my place to reprimand him of his questionable facets. I am his tactician, he is my commander. My approach would be inappropriate. Be best if it were someone related by blood to confront him."
"If I didn't knew any better, I think you just made up that excuse."
"..."
"Okay, okay, fine! I'll do it!"
Mist reluctantly scurried out of the tent, disconcerted by the fact Soren had absolutely no advice to help her help Ike with his 'bluntness'. Though he had a point-she did went to Soren because she hoped to seek the means to fix her brother, not to burden Soren with the chore. She could not persistently ask others to do things for her. Heck, she initially wanted to do it herself. She cared about Ike. She wanted her brother to be respected, not emerge as an inside joke for all of Tellius. So as his little sister, Mist shall gather the courage to confront Ike on the matter. Soren had an additional point-if she chose to unveil the matter to Ike, she would have to be direct with it.
Her opportunity struck when she spotted Ike egressing from the woods, carrying a load of logs to refurnish the campfire. Mist, without hesitation, ran up to her brother with the task at hand.
"Ike! I need to talk you," Mist exclaimed once she was alongside Ike.
Ike continued striding to where the campfire was at, but attended his attention to his sister. "Hey Mist. Is Oscar set?"
"Well, yeah, but that's not why I want to talk to you. It's like, super duper important that you hear me out."
"Go ahead."
Mist drew a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.
"Well you see...You know I love you very much."
"Uh-huh."
"And it is in my position to tell you anything that concerns me, even if it involves you...You know what? I'm just gonna say it, be straight with you."
Ike and Mist arrived to the campfire, and while Ike set down the logs, he uttered, "What is it?"
"...Ike, you are way too blunt for your own good. I understand that you neither shy from voicing your opinion nor lie for approval. But you can be kind of careless with what you say. For one thing, you don't consider the feelings of others (I swear, if you pull one of your 'you'll get no sympathy from me' rebuttals). Second, your snide remarks on the upper-class knows no bounds. Third, you self-deprecate when others take note of your disinterest in stuff, your lack of knowledge in some areas, and your apparent social dissociation. You apologize, although most of the time there are things people say that aren't true that you accept are true. Look, Ike, you are not perfect, contrariwise you are not totally imperfect. There's a difference between literal judgment and people just sending hate your way. I don't want you to let people taint your identity, and at the same time I don't want you to neglect it. Keep your integrity, keep being you, but you should not be careless about it...Oh Ike, I didn't mean to sound harsh, I didn't want everyone to one day think of you as dense, rude, or impassive. I was afraid people would lose respec-"
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah."
"Ike, you can't make all your answers short!"
Ike held up his hands, offering a small grin. "By okay, I mean I get where you're getting at. I agree with what you said. I don't tend to think about what I say, I just say it. It does give people the wrong idea about me. I never cared, though I guess I should have, maybe just a little bit. Heh, and I'm not great at deciphering the context behind people's words, am I? That's something to keep in mind next time."
"Oh."
"Sorry I got you worked-up over this. It's nice to hear you care about what people think of me. I'd have asked you not to be, though if it's hammering you so much I must've gotten in over my head."
"You're not mad?" I can't believe this is working, Mist's baffled thoughts hollered.
"...I hardly suppose you can upset me, Mist. Moreover would I hardly suppose you fabricated white lies. Your concern towards this is harmless and honest. I appreciate it."
"Does that mean you won't allow the insults of others to sway you to believe them," Mist inquired, eyeing her brother carefully.
"Yes."
"Does that mean you'll keep your remarks to yourself when we're employed by nobles?"
"...I'll try."
"Does that mean you'll rekindle with Sanaki?"
"...Baby steps, Mist. A whole lot of baby steps."
Mist embraced her brother mirthfully upon hearing Ike's confirmation. "I'm so happy to hear that! It's gonna take long, but the nightmare is finally over. In no time, we'll get to see our old friends in Begnion again and prove Shinon wrong once and for all!"
Ike patted Mist on the head, blinking a few times. "Great?"
Mist jumped unexpectedly, unlocked her arms from Ike, and commenced departure. "I almost forgot, I have to tell everyone that dinner is ready! I gotta go; thanks for hearing me out! You're the best brother ever!"
She only saw Ike nodding before she hurried to the row of tents with a smile on her face. Her role in convincing Ike to reform his attitude was successful, and easier than she anticipated. Already well-acquainted with Ike, Mist suspected him to armor himself a thick, stubborn wall. Really, all she had to do was be point-blank with him. Perhaps Soren was precise in his hypothesis, and presented the logical course of action.
Ike promised her that he will attempt to monitor his bluntness, but instilled that the process was going to require patience. Since this was his main characteristic, Mist would only stamp out the segments that were problematic for her brother. After all, she preferred not to drastically morph him. Instead, she will await the day Ike becomes the temperate commander of the Greil Mercenaries. Blunt, but wiser.
Hope this was pleasant to the eyes. In this collection of stories, each chapter will rotate between the Tellius series and Fire Emblem Awakening. I'll put up a notification on each chapter to indicate what universe the story is taking place, so it wouldn't be a problem. I'll try uploading new chapters every week. It would be nice to hear about what you guys think about this chapter, that way I can use feedback (and uplifting encouragement) to improve on the next chapter!