A.N. References to classes work like this in my stories: A capitalized name (such as Assassin or Trickster) means that it is the character's current class status unless other grammar rules apply. A lowercase reference (such as thief or tactician) simply refers to the character's base classification.
A.N. 2 The cover art is by the artist Mage231 on DeviantArt. My computer is super old and barely functioning, so I had to crop it to get it to fit to this website's standards. The original, full piece is just adorable, so definitely look it up! The artist graciously gave me permission to use it. Please honor him or her (not sure) by checking out their gallery and profile. For some reason, the link doesn't want to work, so just go to the DeviantArt website, type in Mage231 in the search engine and it should come up.
Summary: Lissa often doubts herself and her role in the Shepherds. Can a certain thief help her find her sweet spot and maybe steal her heart in the process?
Pairing: Lissa x Gaius
Chapter One
It was a beautiful, cool morning in the country of Ylisse. The sights and sounds normally associated with a quiet sunrise, birds chirping, a soft breeze, and a pale pink dawn went unnoticed, thanks to the flurry of activity that comprised the Shepherd's morning routines. Soldiers were up for a quick workout, those on kitchen duty were busying themselves with breakfast preparations, and the more high born of the lot were primping away at their appearances.
And poor Lissa, youngest princess of the realm, was doing her best to drown out the noise with her pillow. She was failing quite miserably, and ultimately gave up on the attempt when a deep voice called to her from outside her quarters.
"Milady, are you awake?"
She groaned loudly and tossed aside her pillow and blanket in annoyance. "Yes, Frederick, I'm up!" she replied as she hurried to get dressed.
"Good. As it is an even-numbered day and I have no pending duties for the time being, I've scheduled multiple training sessions for us throughout the course of the morning."
Lissa paused from tying up her blond hair in its customary pigtails. "Multiple? I didn't agree to that!" she protested. She scowled at her reflection's blood-shot eyes and weary countenance in the miniature mirror she kept with her belongings. It wouldn't do to reveal her continued grief and recent insomnia to her comrades, so she took this brief opportunity to make angry faces at her image to get it out of her system. Feeling better and reminding herself that it was a beautiful day, she completed her hasty preparations and grabbed her supplies.
An amused chuckle drifted through the barrier. "Perhaps not, but I assure you, it is both beneficial and necessary." He stepped back from the entrance to the tent when she emerged with a Thunder tome in one hand and a healing staff in the other. A small pouch containing vials of various tonics and medicinal potions dangled at her hip and clinked musically when she moved.
"Psh, fine!" A wicked grin crossed her face. "But that means we're going to be EXTRA lazy tomorrow."
A definite look of horror came over the Great Knight's face. "As you wish, milady," he mumbled through gritted teeth and a loud sigh.
"Good. Shall we then?"
Lissa may not have been the most motivated of warriors when it came to practicing initially, even when she requested it, but she still felt that she had come a long way. It wasn't as if she truly hated it either; she merely didn't want to put forth full effort until she fully understood the value of the undertaking. Once she did, she could be as hard working as any other, even more so if she was getting something in return. In this case, in addition to the obvious boost of strength and confidence, she also received companionship and entertainment from the discomfort of her stoic guardian.
The sprightly girl followed her tall instructor a short distance away from the Shepherd's encampment to an open space dedicated as a temporary training ground. Stahl and Kellam were stationed at the far end near the woods and a few other lower ranked Knights and Cavaliers guarded the other borders. Lissa smiled and greeted everyone by name as they passed.
"Good morning, Bard, Falas! Hi, Brock! Hey-a Stahl! I see you too, Kellam! Good morning!" Her cheery personality was infectious and even the crankiest of the soldiers visibly lightened up when they saw her.
"Forgive me, milady, but we should begin. It is, after all, our agreed-upon training day," Frederick interrupted. His voice was stern, but he could not fully disguise his own joy and pride at serving such a kind-hearted princess.
"Alright, alright. No need to get your smallclothes in a twist. Where do we start?" Lissa asked, ceasing her deliberate delays and granting the man her full attention.
The dignified soldier cleared his throat to disguise his embarrassment at her mention of his smallclothes. "We'll start with a light warm-up, followed by strength-training drills for at least sixty minutes. After that, we'll work on improving your long-distance accuracy with your tome utilizing those targets on the far end over there. This should grant you some experience as a recently converted Valkyrie. Then we shall spar for no less than thirty minutes, and if there's sufficient time remaining, we will run laps around the field to build your endurance."
She saluted her commander with a hearty "Yes, Sir!", though internally she was suppressing dread at the prospect of so much physical exertion.
"Good. You may set aside your equipment for the time being." He waited patiently while she ran over the Stahl and asked him if he would hang on to her belongings. When she returned, Frederick beat down the instinct to treat her like a delicate flower and reverted to drill sergeant mode. "Ready? Let's go!"
Over two hours later, Lissa was soaked in sweat, gasping for air, and internally screaming with every muscle fiber in her body. Frederick had decided that they did, in fact, have enough time for endurance training, and ordered her to run fifty laps around the clearing.
Her only consolation was that just as she'd finished her first few circles, Gaius had joined her, per orders from Sully. The female Cavalier had taken it upon herself to whip the "reformed" crook into fighting shape and decided that the same amount of laps were the perfect warm-up for him.
"Ten more to go! Come on, move it!" Frederick shouted at them both. He was jogging backwards a few feet ahead of them, observing their progress.
"I *pant* really *pant* hate you *pant*, Frederick!" Lissa managed between gasps of air.
"You *huff* and me *huff* both!" Gaius mumbled.
Sully frowned at the bandit heartlessly as she sprinted past them. "What's that, maggot? You got something to say?!"
Once she was out of earshot again, Gaius moved a little closer to the female royal next to him. "Yo, Princess. *huff* If that *wheeze* crazy woman *gasp* kills me, *gasp* will you *gasp* see to it *gasp* that I'm immortalized *pant* in pastry *wheeze* form?"
Lissa slowed her pace to catch her breath a little before responding with a grin. "Only if *huff* I can have your *huff* secret stash." Her mood had improved considerably since he'd come along.
Gaius clearly loathed the idea of any besides him accessing his legendary confections, but agreed nonetheless. "Done."
"Less talking, more running!" Sully commanded, overtaking them again.
The younger girl increased her speed once more. "Come on, Gaius. *huff, pant* We're almost there. We can do this!"
"Easy for you *pant* to say. *huff* You're just about *huff* done. My hell's *pant* just getting *pant* started."
"Finish strong, milady!" Frederick called, now waiting near the training entrance and "finish line".
"Pick up the pace, maggot!"
Lissa glanced over at her running partner. "Race you to the end?" She took off at an impressive rate without giving him a chance to reply.
Gaius closed the distance quickly in a rare show of determination. The pair sprinted towards their waiting trainers, who were cheering them on, albeit with vastly different approaches.
"Almost there! Come on, milady!"
"Move those little chicken legs, Gaius!"
Both of them gave it their all and completed the circuit together. They narrowly missed colliding into their commanders and fell to their knees, utterly spent and breathing hard.
"Well done, milady! A vast improvement from last week!" Frederick complimented, returning to his reassuring guardian role.
"Thanks!" Lissa mumbled, glowing with pride (and sweat) in spite of her fatigue.
"Not bad, but we've still got a hell of a lot of work to do, Thief!" Sully said while giving him a friendly punch in the arm.
Gaius was unbalanced and unprepared for such a gesture of camaraderie, so the playful hit knocked him to the ground. He rolled onto his back and lay there unmoving, limbs spread-eagled and still panting as though on the verge of hyperventilating. Lissa and Frederick quickly leaned over him, fretting over his condition while Sully stood back and just rolled her eyes.
"Gaius? Are you okay?" Lissa asked. When he didn't answer, she waved to the two soldiers standing on guard by the woods. "Stahl! Bring my staff and pouch!"
The green-armored Cavalier rushed over, leaving the soft spoken Kellam to momentarily watch both their posts. He handed the young healer the requested items and returned to his station reluctantly, curiosity and concern evident on his handsome face.
The noblewoman kneeled beside her companion and was just about to activate the wooden staff's therapeutic properties, when the tired outlaw finally opened his eyes and waved away the glowing wand in his face.
"I'm alright; I'm alright. I was just having a hard time catching my breath, that's all. I don't need any spells."
Lissa retracted her hands. "Are you sure? You're not hurt or sick?"
Sully walked over and glared down at him. "He's fine. He's just weak."
Gaius glowered back. "And you're insane." He started patting down his various shirt and leather armor compartments in search of something. A brief glimpse of panic flashed in his eyes and he sat up, continuing the hunt in his trouser pockets. He eventually calmed when he located the object of his quest in what the others could only assume was a hidden pouch within the folds of the cloak around his neck.
Lissa giggled at the predictability of her candy-crazed friend when he produced a chocolate-covered sugar pop and shoved it in his mouth with the same gusto as a man who hadn't eaten anything in some time. He immediately relaxed and hummed in contentment.
"Alright, break's over." Sully grabbed her prey with one hand by the back of his shirt collar and hauled him to his feet. "I want 200 squats and I want 'em now! Let's go! Let's go!"
Gaius hesitantly complied, interlacing his fingers behind his head and positioning his feet a hips-width apart. The rider deliberately began to circle him like a hawk, counting his repetitions aloud for him so that he could concentrate on his form. As soon as she was behind him and unable to see his face, he looked at the Great Knight and newly advanced Valkyrie pleadingly. "Help me!" he mouthed.
Lissa shook her head. "Sorry, but I did my time, so you're on your own."
Frederick put a hand on her shoulder and smiled in an almost sadistic sort of way. "Fear not, Gaius. Milady has survived the very same exercises this morning and I am certain that you will as well. After all, Sully learned all of her training techniques from me."
"Great. Now I know who to blame for this torture."
"9… 10… I'd save my breath if I were you, maggot! You've got 500 sit-ups after this! 11… 12…"
The lively blonde smiled kindly. "You can do it, Gaius!" she cheered enthusiastically. Then she leaned in towards her fellow sweets lover. "I'll sneak an extra bilberry tart for you to eat if you survive."
This proposition sounded like a worthy goal to the sugar addict, and he increased the speed and fluidity of his movements eagerly, determined to earn the aforementioned prize. "I'm gonna hold you to that."
Lissa glanced back at Sully. She was still counting reps, but had ceased walking around her trainee and had moved to stand next to Frederick, apparently exchanging cordial pleasantries between numbers. Taking advantage of the older woman's divided attention, she reached into her pouch, pulled out a Strength Tonic, and discreetly handed it to her rapidly weakening ally. "Here, take this. Just in case you need an extra boost to get through," she said in a low voice with a wink.
Gaius swiftly snatched it before Sully could catch on and used a quick slight-of-hand technique to hide it. "Thanks!" he whispered, returning the smile and a wink of his own.
"We should leave them, milady. Your brother is likely expecting you to join him for breakfast, and I have other matters to attend to," Frederick said, abruptly ending his conversation with the tomboyish redhead.
"Right. See ya later Gaius! Bye Sully!"
The princess and her knight re-entered the camp, walking together in the direction of the mess area. Lissa chatted away to fill the silence about nothing in particular, but she quickly noticed that the conversation was a bit one-sided. "Uh, Frederick? What's up? Is something wrong? You're not listening."
The distracted soldier immediately dismissed his internal personal debate and gave her a gentle expression. "Ah, forgive me, milady. I became lost in thought. What were you saying?"
Lissa stopped walking and looked up intently at one of her oldest friends. "It's not important. Is something the matter? You're not yourself all of a sudden."
Frederick shook his head. "Thank you for asking, but it is nothing you need concern yourself with, milady. I merely find myself facing a bit of a dilemma."
"Do you want to talk about it? It might help."
"I appreciate the offer, but I myself must think on it yet. And even if it were not so, it would be presumptuous of me to lay such trivial troubles upon you, princess. If you will excuse me…" He bowed low and walked away without waiting for a proper dismissal.
Lissa watched him go, a dual sense of concern for the venerable soldier and her own loneliness creeping in. It pained her to think that Frederick, like many others, felt that his problems were unworthy of her attention. It also bothered her, as it always did , that so few treated her like a peer. It seemed like a constant, unwinnable battle: attempting to live up to everyone's standards of what a princess should be while at the same time desiring the level of companionship that only seemed obtainable to those of "lower" social standing.
Perhaps that was why she enjoyed spending so much time with the Ylissian criminal. He was one of the few who regarded her on relatively even terms as well as respecting and patiently assisting in her self-improvement efforts. Everyone else, her brother and best friend Maribelle included, tended to be overprotective and were always telling her she was perfect and shouldn't change at all. She agreed that the main components of her personality must remain, but she liked the feeling of accomplishment she got from mastering a new skill and feeling more useful in general.
With that in mind, the Valkyrie decided that she would eat, wash up, and then spend the majority of her day practicing needlework. She knew that Gaius would come find her later for the tart she promised, so she would ask him for some more lessons then. Feeling much more cheerful at that thought, she skipped into the mess tent to join her brother for breakfast.
