Meep.
Hey, I'm alive! Haven't been able to get to a computer with the internet for a while...but it's all good. So, yeah, first Fire Emblem story that I actually finished, and it's probably one of the better ones.
Not going to bug you too much. I'll just get on with it. Disclaimer's at the end of the story, and you'll see an OC of mine with the boys. So there you go.
The screams were the first things to wake them. They pierced the darkness like an arrow through the heart.
In the dim lighting of the old barn, a figure approached the still-crying child. "Roshea," the figure, a 12-year-old boy with messy purple hair and fiery purple eyes, said softly, gently shaking the child. "Wake up."
Roshea shot up sweating and panting, his purple eyes scanning the room frantically. Sedgar, Tomas, Will...where was he? He turned to the boy beside him. He sounded as frantic as he looked. "Where's Vyland?! Wolf, he's not dead, is he?!"
Wolf placed a hand on his spirit brother's shoulder, speaking quickly but as softly and calmly as he had when he woke him. "It's okay. He's still alive. It'll be alright." He glanced to the blankets at the far wall, their occupant the only one not awoken by the screaming.
Roshea stood up and ran over to the sleeping boy, an 11-year-old with hair as deep a red as the blood in his wounds. Long, winding cuts were laced along his chest and stomach, still slightly bleeding since evening when they were made. It was known to all of the boys that there were more on his back, even deeper than those on his front. One hundred lashes. That was his punishment for sparking the fires of rebellion among a group of children in the enslaved population. Fifty to the front, fifty even stronger to the back. It was a wonder they didn't just kill him like they did he rest. Instead, they whipped him within an inch of his life. Roshea, kneeling, saw the movement of his chest. Relief washed over the young boy's features, and a tiny smile even managed to creep up on his face. It was all alright. Vyland was alive. Barely, but he was.
"He's still breathing, is he? It was a lot lighter when I woke up before," Tomas said, coming up and sitting next to Roshea. At eight, he was two years older, and unlike the younger's deep purple hair and eyes, his were a light emerald green that seemed to glow in the moonlight.
The elder three boys followed suit and sat down around the rest- Sedgar on Tomas' left, Wolf on Roshea's right, and Will on Wolf's right. Wolf watched Vyland as Roshea had, moving his eyes along the marks left in the skin. "I can't believe they decided to let him live," he muttered, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Especially since he was the ringleader of the entire movement."
"They know of his worth," Will replied, looking up to face the rest. He was the oldest of the group, a 13-nearing-14-year-old with bright red hair and carmine eyes that flickered like firelight every time the light moved in them. "He's one of the strongest of the children and even some adults. They know how useful he'd be in the future so long as they keep him under control, and if they got rid of him it'd be virtually impossible to replace him." He looked back down and shrugged. "Either that or they thought that killing him will just feed the flames even more when killing all of the other kids didn't make it any better."
"Or they just wanted him to die the slowest death possible," Tomas muttered, but no one responded to him. He turned to his left. "What do you think, brother?"
Sedgar was Tomas' elder brother; they were the only two known to be related in the group. He was 13 as well, though a few months younger than Will. Like his younger brother, he had green hair and eyes, but they leaned more towards a yellow green, like the grass on the Aurelian plains under the late summer sun. "If a fire isn't snuffed out or contained, it will continue to grow until it becomes an inferno that no one can control," Sedgar preached, never moving his head or opening his eyes. "If you take away the source, everything already lit around it will continue to spread, albeit not as quickly. If you remove everything around the source, it will just burn and spread anew even fiercer than before. Either way, the blaze to come becomes inevitable."
Tomas rolled his eyes and turned his head away slightly. "Great," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Just what I needed. Another Zen lesson from the wise sage." He turned to the right and noticed that Roshea hadn't moved from his position. His eyes were glued to Vyland, watching his breathing, as if looking away would make it stop. "Roshea?" he asked, his voice softer and gentler than before. "What's wrong? Or, rather, what's wronger?"
"Why?" The boy's voice was so soft, you had to strain to hear it, even in the silence of the night. "Why does this have to happen? They force us to work, and they beat us or worse if we do anything out of line. I...don't understand why."
Wolf scoffed. "It's human nature. We do what we wish to others so long as we get what we desire. It doesn't matter if we cheat or subjugate them- what we receive in the end is what matters to us."
"...I can't stop thinking about what happen yesterday. Twelve children lined up on their knees like ducks in a row. Each one save for the last beheaded one by one. The last one whipped until he was almost a raw and bloodied carcass. How can no one say anything against it?"
"They're all too afraid," Will answered. "Or they don't know. Or they're dead." Sedgar bowed his head further, and Tomas followed suit at this. Their parents were two of the nobles killed for standing against the slave trade. Will noticed their sorrow and apologized. "Sorry. All I'm saying is that everyone is either unwilling or unable to do anything. Take your father, Roshea. They threatened both him and your sister if he didn't give you up because they thought you knew too much for your age. They knew you'd be a danger in the future if they didn't do anything about it. They probably thought you'd end up being the one to tell the royals about all this. and if the king and Prince Hardin knew...oh, that would be their death sentence. You see what I mean?"
"If only they did know," Wolf continued. "You know they wouldn't stand for this at all. And Coyote would have all of those greedy nobles put down for good within the week." He looked to his younger brother. "Roshea?"
"The boy was still staring, taking in the conversation. "When?" he finally asked, tears starting to brim in his eyes. "When will we finally be free from all of this needless suffering?"
Sedgar moved between the two youngest and wrapped his arms around Roshea, pulling his head to his chest. "We'll be free one day, Little Roshea," he said gently and slowly, rubbing his hand along the side of the boy's head. "...One day."
Roshea relaxed into the elder boy's embrace, but his eyes never left Vyland, always watching the steady rise and fall of his chest.
