Author's Note—I have no idea where I got this idea. I guess I'm writing it because the love for Rath/Wil, in my eyes, is depleting. This takes place after Nergal is defeated. And some of the story is flashbacks you're warned!
Edit I will not update this story until I get some feedback, might be demanding but It's needed to motivate me.
Disclaimer—I don't own Fire Emblem. I wish I did but I don't. Life's tough. Deal with it.
Warnings--Shonen ai, maybe slight language, flashbacks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Explanations
Chapter
1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"So it's agreed. We'll go to the plains of Sacae and then go visit my parents for a while!" Wil said as he watched Rath feed his horse the daily carrot the stallion received. "I wonder if my family still lives in the same house. That would be horrible if we had to travel all that way for nothing!" Wil laughed as they walked through the doors of the inn, just coming from the stables.
Rath winced slightly. "I... did not agree upon anything. We do not... have to go to Sacae." Rath muttered as he pushed the oak door open. The two of them were greeted by various members of the Army, most of them talking about their plans now that the war was over. It might be even more horrible if we traveled to Sacae and there actually was something. Riding a long journey only to be banished or even killed once we got there. Rath thought grimly.
"Of course we have to go!" Wil stopped in his tracks and stared at Rath for a moment before walking again. "Your family's going to see you whether or not you like it." He nodded and sauntered faster to catch up with Rath. "Is there any reason you don't want to go?"
By this time they were at the room and Rath was opening the door. The nomad stopped in the doorway as memories that used to haunt his dreams when he was young, and that still occasionally did, entered his mind.
A darkened tent that was filled with a musty air of herbs and spices that was usually occupied by few people, was full of tribe leaders and advisors along with one seer. The old seer, with gray hair and missing teeth, with a hunched back and one large eye that seemed to protrude from the socket, who was wrinkled and dressed with robes and shawls along with jewelry of the other tribes on the plains, looked up from the cauldron that was centered in the middle of the room to the chief leader of the Kutolah. "The boy must be sent away. Dire consequences will follow his life and his growth. An evil uprising will take place in the future and he must protect us from it." The chieftain, Lord Dayan, looked upon the aged woman and nodded solemnly, knowing that he had to do this. Dayan looked at the fellow men and closed the meeting. "You have heard this from the leader of the Kutolah. Rath shall be sent out of Sacae never to return. He shall be the sacrifice and savior of these plains." His voice boomed out through the large wigwam. Moments later, following the announcement, Dayan returned to his own house, to be followed by a small figure that had been hiding in the shadows of the men at the meeting. The chieftain pushed the cloth opening to the living quarters where he saw his wife preparing dinner. "I have news to tell you... You will not like it." The little boy with green hair and green eyes dashed in unnoticed and went to hide again, seeing if he could hear anymore of this conversation. Thinking it was all a joke that the town was pulling on him for his birthday. The little one, Rath, giggled into his hand and watched the upcoming 'show'. All this for my birthday. It seems unreal. He naively thought. After Dayan explained everything that happened at the meeting, all he could do was watch his wife cry in his arms. "They... They can't take my son away from me!" She sobbed and shuddered in his arms. His hands rubbed her back and he muttered something that Rath couldn't hear. "He's to protect us from one... Who tries to resurrect the Dragons. It is supposed to be an honor." He said calmly as a tear slipped away from his eye. "He won't be able to come back." She looked up at him. "He's only… four years old! Why can't they… send an older fighter?!" She asked angrily, still sobbing. As this happened Rath snickered at their poor attempt to make him think he was actually going away. The eldest nomad sighed and told her that they would have to deal with the fact that they would never see their son after he left. She shuddered in his arms but nonetheless she slowly nodded, still sobbing. Rath snuck outside of the house and went into the large field with very tall grass, the one he loved to play in with all the other children, and rolled around laughing. "I can't believe they love me so much as to put on a rouse like this and tell me that I'm never coming home." He lay in the grass laughing for a few minutes before getting up. "It is my birthday and I suppose I wouldn't want to miss my special dinner." As the happy little nomad walked through the village he looked around at the people who lived there. Although when he passed one of those at the most recent meeting he was met with cold shoulders and harsh glares. The wheels in his head were turning. Was everyone in the town in on this joke? He thought a moment but then he decided against it. Someone would've burst out laughing by now. They're probably all in bad moods since it's not their birthday. Happy with his answer, Rath pushed the flap to his home and beamed at his mother. She said nothing but her eyes were still a little watered. "Hello Rath, go wash your hands before dinner. You're four years old now. I don't expect anyone telling you from now on." His mother voiced as she walked into the kitchen, making the final preparations on her son's last meal in the Kutolah Tribe. Rath did as he was told and as he finished up his father walked into the kitchen with slightly reddened eyes. Dayan sat at the table, as did Rath. The female nomad placed the last of the meal on the table. When dinner was settled and finished Rath and his mother were told not to leave the table. Dayan pulled a pack from the back of his chair that had all of the essentials for living on his own. Mostly including money, knives, a sleeping pad, blankets, string, and extra arrows. He also pulled Rath's Bow and arrows, and handed all of this to Rath, who beamed because he would just come back tomorrow. That was when Dayan started the explanation. "Rath, because of certain reasons, you are not to come back to the village." Rath waited for an 'until tomorrow morning' but it never came. "You're to be banished from the tribe, never to come back. It's been foreseen that you'll help protect the world from the greatest evil since the Scourging." Dayan sighed. "I've packed the essentials and some of your most valuable possessions. You'll leave in the morning before the sun rises and the birds chirp. Make us proud to have you as a son; don't let me hear that the son of the leader of the greatest tribe in Sacae died before his duty was fulfilled. Your mother and me will miss you greatly." Rath waited patiently though the speech and as soon as it was done he was outside. He played with the neighborhood kids, their parents thinking it would be nice to have their savior have one peaceful night before his duty and destiny was commenced. The nomad came back to the wigwam and said good night to his parents, completely oblivious to the tears in his mother's eyes and the sadness in his father's. He slipped into bed with his provisions next to him through out the night. The older nomads stayed and watched him sleep peacefully though the night. Thinking only of what would become of their four year old son living out on his own. The next morning came too quickly for Dayan and his wife but regardless it was forbidden to let anyone banished stay in your home. Rath was sent out of the village the next day and everyone in the town came to see him off. Wow. Everyone in town IS in on the joke. He smiled to himself. As he walked into the woods he planned out where he would camp for the day and decided that food wouldn't be important since he would have a big home cooked meal the next day anyway. He passed his time alone by making animal noises to scare the children smaller and younger than him, running around in circles, and most of all trying not to think of food. As the next day came Dayan's wife was still crying and had become mildly depressed. When she thought she saw her son come in the house and grab some food she told herself immediately that she needed some sleep since she'd been lacking. Rath however had been in the house getting food. He thought that his 'banishment' was over so he'd grab a bite to eat before going to play some more. Soon he was caught by one of the elder residents who screamed that a banished person was in the village. Men came out of their homes equipped with bows at the ready and arrows ready to be shot. Rath was taken to something much like a trial, and he was seated up high in a seat where all of the judges, elders, and leaders could see him but was quite hard for him to see them, most likely for safety reasons. "Rath. You were banished yesterday. You, like everyone else of the Kutolah, should know what happens to those who've been banished and came back to our lands. Although you were banished and you are still a child we, the elders, have decided to let you live but you should know this is your last chance. You can never come back to these plains for as long as you should live." Stated an elder man whose face couldn't be seen in such dim light. "You will leave the village the moment this trial has adjourned." He couldn't believe it. They were actually going to send a four-year-old child out in the world never to see his home, family, or childhood friends ever again. He gaped and tried to look for his father. He soon spotted him in the middle of all the people. Dayan stared Rath in the eyes like he'd done to every other who was banished. Rath felt the tears well up in his eyes. They're going to send me away… was his last thought before he was escorted out of the room and away from the village. Dayan arrived shortly after with a small horse. "Rath I'm being a lot more generous than with any other convict, you are my son after all. So this will be your horse. Feed it and yourself. Good Bye Rath. Don't come back." Rath took the horse by the reins and as he watched his father walk away he shouted as loud as he could 'Father! Mother! Why?' After this he fell to the ground crying, soon to fall asleep.
Wil tapped Rath's shoulder and with a worried look on his face he asked if he was okay. Rath shivered and nodded grimly. He entered the room to put away his things and to get ready for the dinner that Lowen would be preparing. Wil looked at Rath and was chattering on about some festival that him and Serra would be attending to, along with catching fireflies and putting them in some thin vials, he called the creation a 'glowing stick'.
After dinner Rath had no energy left in his body. "Wil. I think… I am going... to go to bed." The nomad told Wil. Wil nodded and went off to find someone to chat with, probably Serra to help him convince Merlinus that they absolutely needed those vials. Rath slowly made his way to his room at the inn and let himself in. He soon collapsed on the bed and fell into a fitful sleep in a matter of seconds.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Continued
in Chapter 2!
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Explanations. Reviews would be VERY much appreciated.
