Bowstrings
DISCLAIMER: Fire Emblem and its characters belong to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.
Originally, he had thought of it as a joke, just something to keep himself occupied in Begnion while the commander tried to talk with the empress about Princess Elincia. When he had actually stumbled on a workable battle technique, though, Oscar borrowed the book from Sienne's library, committed it to memory and went off in search of his brothers.
"You're not serious," Boyd snickered. "You actually went and found one?"
Rolf's eyes were shining. "That's neat! So, what do we need? What do we gotta do?"
"First of all, we all need to use the same weapon."
"Axe!" Boyd shouted at the same time that Rolf screamed, "Bow!"
Oscar winced. Having a brother shouting in each ear was not a nice experience and one he would rather not relive.
"Okay, okay," he said, raising his hands up to get them to stop. "Considering that Rolf won't have much time to learn the axe and he really doesn't have the build to use one, how about we learn the bow?" Boyd fumed, as though to say 'You always take his side, Oscar!' but wisely remained silent.
Rolf, however, took this chance to quietly laugh at his brother. Oscar tried going on straight ahead as though nothing happened.
"All the rest of it is that we have to be in a triangle formation around the enemy and some targeting technique," the eldest brother finished. "So we'd better learn fast."
"With peewee here?" Boyd said incredulously. "We'd probably learn faster on our own."
"Hey! Just because I'm a prodigy doesn't mean you have to take it out on me!"
"Yeah, right."
"Obviously, someone's been teaching him the basics," Oscar pointed out. "He can't grasp all that on his own. And I think it's painfully obvious who."
"Who?"
"No! Oscar! Shh!" Rolf looked at the lanceman pleadingly, as though he were going to cry. Oscar decided to take pity on him. After all, the information might come in handy some other time.
"… me, of course," he answered, as nonchalantly as possible.
"Hmph," Boyd snorted. "You're hiding something." However, he didn't press any further on the subject. Inwardly, Oscar sighed in relief – who knew what he would have to do if Boyd asked him to prove it!
That still left the original question unanswered; who would teach them?
"I think it's safe to say that Shinon's out of the question?" Oscar suggested. Rolf nodded feverishly. Boyd looked at his younger brother sceptically, but also nodded – they probably didn't want to deal with that grouch.
"Well, who's left?" the axeman said. "Lady Astrid?"
"… let's not." Oscar sounded sheepish.
"Huh? Whassamatter?" Rolf blinked. Then his green eyes grew wide. "Ohh!"
Oscar hoped Rolf wasn't getting the wrong idea.
"Oscar wants to impress her by being manly and helping her shoot a bow!" The youngest brother giggled. "That's nice! Okay then, I shall do everything in my power to make you an archer to impress!"
"W-what are you talking about?" the lanceman sputtered, his ears growing the slightest shade of red. "I'm pretty sure she's a better shot than I'll ever be, so how am I supposed to impress her?"
By now Boyd had joined in the laughing.
"Well, well!" he snickered. "You think we should go tell Lady Astrid she has a secret admirer, Rolf?" At this point, the archer couldn't even speak from laughing so much, so he just nodded. Oscar sighed. It wasn't that Astrid wasn't nice or anything like that, but it wasn't what they were thinking… at least, he thought not.
"So, I guess I'll teach you guys, then!" Rolf finally managed to get out after calming down sufficiently. It was probably the best way to learn, Oscar decided.
Boyd groaned.
"First of all, you have to learn posture," Rolf said as the three brothers stood in front of a set of makeshift targets. Boyd had scoffed at the pitiful-looking pieces of wood, but Oscar managed to intervene before another argument broke out. They'd never learn if they bickered every five minutes.
"Aw man, not this again," the axeman complained. "This is just like how Titania makes me do drills!"
"W-well, it was how Unc – I mean, they're basics, right?" Rolf gulped. "You won't get any of the other stuff if you don't learn this first."
"Since when did you get all teacher-like? Perhaps that person you're hiding from me is telling you everything!"
"N-no, I'm a prodigy! I told you already!"
"Oh come on, even Oscar said someone had to teach you!"
Oscar put a hand to his forehead. Now he was getting dragged into this too?
"Guys, let's just get on with this?" he said. It was the most neutral statement he could think of. This was most definitely going to take a long time.
"Okay, so you want to stand with your dominant side facing back and your feet about shoulder width apart," Rolf began. "Then you would hold the bow in your other hand and pull the string with your dominant one." Pretending to have a bow in his hand, Rolf imitated what he said.
"… and why aren't we using bows right now?" Boyd asked.
"'cause you'll get string burns if you're not careful!" Rolf answered indignantly. "So we should make sure we get the basic positions right."
"How hard could it be?" Boyd spread his feet shoulder-width apart and pretended to fire with his right arm.
"See? If you don't turn, your aim will be off! It's important to get it right!"
Before they started arguing again, Oscar tried to follow Rolf's instructions. "Like… this?"
Rolf seemed pleased at his actions. The older brother hoped his attempt had gotten Rolf's mind off of Boyd and getting angry at him.
Grudgingly, Boyd did the same actions.
"Now, we'll have to get bows, but mine are too small for you…" Rolf looked slightly panicked.
"Uh… will these do?" Oscar pulled out two sturdy iron bows, at the perfect length for him and Boyd. Rolf nodded as he ran his hands over them, examining them carefully.
"These are great!" the archer remarked. "Did you get these on your own?" Once again, Oscar's ears reddened.
"… Astrid saw me looking at them and asked what I was doing," he mumbled reluctantly. "She helped me pick them out. In fact, she even paid for them and offered to give me lessons…" The lanceman trailed off, for fear that he might say something that would make worse any ideas his brothers were already getting.
Yes, they were definitely getting ideas.
"Honestly, how could you turn down a lady like that?" Boyd teased in mock surprise. "You must have broken her poor little heart, and she so obviously took a shine to you!" He shook his head, faking shame.
"And you've obviously been hanging around Gatrie too much," Oscar shot back, slightly irked. "Since when have you been interested in this stuff?"
"Wha – me? Gatrie? Oscar, you are completely mistaken."
Oscar raised an eyebrow. "Really, now?"
"G-guys?" Rolf waved his arms. "Bows are good, back to lesson?"
A few hours later, the two elder brothers had managed to progress to shooting the targets. Aside from a few sour accusations that Rolf was showing off, Boyd was actually doing rather well.
"Whoop!" he yelled as he struck another target dead centre. "Am I good or what?"
"Pretty good!" Rolf nodded in approval.
Oscar, on the other hand, was having some problems. Try as he might, the knight couldn't seem to hit the target dead centre. He was following every instruction Rolf gave, and yet the current conundrum left the two of them quite puzzled.
"Well, you are just starting out, after all. Maybe Boyd's just lucky?" the archer suggested.
"Hey. I heard that!" Boyd called out. "It's not luck, you know!" To this Rolf stuck out his tongue.
"Anyways, I don't think luck has to do with it," Oscar answered, trying to ignore Boyd's antics. "I'm just wondering why Boyd can do it with the same techniques, the same instructions and virtually the same bow, when I can't."
"Is that jealousy I smell in the air?" the axeman sniggered, drawing his bowstring back to shoot another arrow.
"No, just curiosity," Oscar said flippantly, as he made to do the same.
Boyd raised an eyebrow, as to doubt Oscar's statement, but in his distraction he let his arrow fly without properly aiming. The arrow soared gracefully past the target, up into the sky and met an object which let out a sickening squawk. Together the three brothers watched a bird fall gracelessly to the ground.
"… I meant to do that."
Oscar ignored Boyd's comment and focused on his target once more. Slowly, he pulled the bowstring back, as he tried to line the target up with the tip of his arrow. In one clean, fluid motion, he released, watching the arrow streak through the air.
"That's a rather good shot, Sir Oscar."
The knight let out a quiet "Eep!" at the sound of a distinctly female voice. He turned to face the speaker, bowing his head slightly as he felt his ears heat up yet again. "Lady Astrid."
Oscar could hear his brothers whispering, though Astrid seemed to pay them no mind.
"How long have you been shooting?" she asked.
"Oh, uh… a few hours." Oscar looked up, but he was still kicking the dirt in the ground with his foot nervously. "And it's just Oscar."
"Oscar, then." Astrid smiled. "And just Astrid."
At this, Oscar tried to turn his attention away to Boyd, who was firing another arrow.
Boyd yelled, "Drat!" The arrow had missed the centre by a small margin.
"That's remarkable improvement, Oscar." Oscar could tell Astrid was impressed. "However, you don't seem very happy. Why not?"
Oscar felt hesitant, but reluctantly told Astrid of his resolve to hit the bullseye and that despite everything Rolf had tried, nothing seemed to help. The white-clad lady looked like she was deep in thought.
"Can I see you fire again?"
By now, Rolf and Boyd had stopped to watch the two knights, whispering and laughing about things Oscar could only guess. Drawing up his bow again, Oscar sighted the target along the arrow and finally let go. The arrow struck just outside of the bullseye.
After a few awkward moments, she asked, "Which eye is your dominant eye, Oscar?"
"Sorry?"
"It's a little hard to explain… here, let's do an experiment."
"Oh!" Rolf said. "I remember now!"
"Shh! They're having a moment." Boyd nudged his brother to get him to shut up. Rolf glared, but didn't argue. Their conversation went right past Astrid, who didn't budge, but Oscar could feel the heat slowly spread from his ears to his face.
"Take a finger and point at a faraway object," Astrid told Oscar, raising her index finger and looking along it as an example.
"Okay…"
Oscar couldn't help but notice that his brothers were following along.
"Now close your left eye." Not having very much control over one eye alone, Oscar opted to cover the eye with his other hand. "Has the object shifted?"
Slightly surprised, Oscar nodded.
"Try the other eye, then."
"It didn't move," Oscar remarked after he tried. "What does this mean?"
"The left eye is your dominant eye, since that's when the object didn't move. You see more from that eye. In archery, the eyes are the most important, so everything is dependent on them, from posture to technique," Astrid explained. "The dominant eye has to be back more so than the dominant hand. Unfortunately, that means that everything you learned will probably have to be done in reverse."
"Sorry, Oscar," Rolf said. "I'm so used to doing everything with my right eye, I forgot…"
"He doesn't care!" Boyd chuckled. "I mean, it got him some time with Lady Astrid, right?" The two brothers dissolved into laughter. This time, the comment caught Astrid's ears, and her face reddened along with Oscar's.
"I have some hints to help fire from your left side," she offered quietly. "… would you like to practise with me some other time?"
Oscar nodded, a little too embarrassed to speak. He bid his farewells with her and watched her leave.
Mere moments after Astrid left, Boyd cuffed Oscar around the neck jokingly while Rolf continued to giggle.
"You should have seen the look on your face the whole time!" Boyd said. "It was priceless!"
"Say, Boyd, how did you know Astrid likes him?" Rolf asked.
"You mean you've been laughing all this time and you didn't know? You said it yourself – he is trying to impress her."
"Yeah, but I thought he said that wasn't it. You told me that she liked him, but you didn't tell me why." Rolf shrugged. "Besides, he looks funny when his ears turn red."
"Can you guys stop talking like I'm not here?" Oscar waved his hands in their faces.
"Rolf, I'm going to teach you something about girls." Boyd ignored Oscar's plea. "They have weird ways of telling you they like you. They won't say it, but they'll start hanging around you more, trying to get your attention, stuff like that. That's how I know Lady Astrid likes Oscar. We're seeing a lot more of her lately, aren't we?"
Oscar sighed.
"Don't get the wrong idea," he said, exasperated. "She's just teaching me."
But it was too late to reclaim Rolf's wild imagination. Already, Oscar could tell that his brother was getting far too many ideas.
"So… like Mist?" the archer asked innocently.
"What, she been hanging around you a lot?" Boyd jumped slightly.
"No, she does that all the time. I was talking about you, Boyd."
"W-what're you talking about?" the axeman yelled defensively. "That… that's not…"
He looked from Rolf to Oscar to Rolf, frantic.
"Looks like he got you," the older brother laughed.
Per their wish, Ike had allowed the trio to be fielded on the next battle, and the entire battle was spent trying to find an opportunity to use their new technique. Several opportunities had presented themselves, but every single time some enemy or other interrupted.
Oscar could see his brothers' faces from time to time in the chaos, and he could tell that they were just as anxious as he was. He didn't like the thought that they sought to kill someone, but he wanted to be able to use his newfound ability for good. But as more and more Daein soldiers fell to their blades, fewer and fewer chances showed up.
Finally, only the enemy commander and a few of his soldiers were left. The brothers watched as their companions took on the others. Oscar watched Boyd and Rolf aim their bows and run on either side of the enemy swordmaster.
"A simple bow… tell me, do you think to defeat one who moves with the wind?" the commander asked Oscar.
"… we shall see," the knight said grimly. "Rolf! Boyd! It's time!"
Together, the brothers raised their bows and drew the bowstrings back.
"Triangle Attack!"
Three arrows flew through the snowy winds straight and true. There was no room for the swordmaster to dodge. Oscar watched as each arrow hit its mark and the enemy fell over from his three wounds. The knight rode up to the fallen body and checked it – there was no way that man would be able to get up.
Ike saw this too, and so he yelled to the remaining Daein forces, "Your commander has fallen! We will give you one chance to flee!" Needless to say, the soldiers took their chance.
When the last soldier had fled, the army got back together to celebrate another victory.
"Is this why you asked me to field you guys?" Ike asked the brothers. Rolf nodded enthusiastically.
"Didya like it? Huh? Huh?" The archer's eyes were practically gleaming.
"I was wondering why you two were bringing bows." The commander nodded toward the bows in Boyd's and Oscar's hands. The four of them looked at the enemy commander's corpse, pierced by three arrows that formed a triangle. "Well, good work."
As they watched Ike leave, Astrid rode up to them.
"Is this what you were using bows for?" she asked.
"Um… uh… yeah," Oscar said quietly.
"Did you see it, Lady Astrid?" Rolf was awfully energetic.
Astrid nodded. "It was very impressive. Whose idea was it?"
The three brothers looked at each other.
"Well, I was the one who said we should have a special attack," Boyd declared, puffing his chest out.
"But Oscar was the one who found it," Rolf insisted.
"And Rolf was the one who taught us," Oscar finished. "I'd say we all did it together, didn't we?"
"Yeah, I guess." There was only the slightest taste of grudging compliance in Boyd's voice.
"We did!" Rolf beamed, obviously happy to be part of the proceedings.
Oscar smiled. Despite everything, the three of them really stuck together. They got it done. The Triangle Attack was proof of that, their covenant.
"So, you should take her out tonight, eh, Oscar?" The knight sighed as his brothers laughed.
"And what about Mist, hmm?" Rolf smirked.
Oscar smacked his head as Rolf and Boyd yelled at each other.
Well, they worked together when it counted, anyways. The rest of the time they just bickered.
One of my better ideas, I think. And the length is decent. I couldn't remember what Homasa said when he gets attacked, so… yeah. The ending's iffy.
To FireEdge, the maker of Oscar/Astrid (unless someone wishes to refute this). You rock.
-EmbeRin