Disclaimer: Imitation is the highest form of flattery, but I can't pretend to imitate Nintendo so I'll just tell you guys I don't own Fire Emblem.
Characters: Eliwood, appearances of others.
Pairings: The fair beginnings of Eliwood/Ninian.
Warnings: Spoilers for chapter 7L. Also, on-screen violence.
Author's Notes: The return of Panther's fail-o-rama when it comes to titles of chapters! Also I have no idea what I'm doing bringing out a one-shot when I'm supposed to be dealing with the time pressure of Prophecies. I regret nothing!
"Come on, move faster." Eliwood leaned forward and grabbed one of his horse's ears. The other ear turned towards him as if the animal were listening to him. "Hector's going to be mad if I arrive late." Actually, the redhead really didn't mind the horse taking its time. He didn't normally get a chance to go out alone- he still wasn't sure how he had managed to shake Marcus after his lord father had issued the Paladin orders to accompany him.
Make no mistakes, he was fond of Marcus. Just, between his parents and his knights, it was hard to say who was more worried something would happen to him. And in all fairness, the old knight was just there in the village Eliwood had left behind him. He had travelled through this area on his way to his two-monthly sparring match with Hector of Ositia so many times he could dream the way there; the only reason Marcus accompanied him was because it was pretty far from Pherae. And because apparently there was something Lord Elbert wanted him to look into and that Eliwood was not privy to.
But right now, he had to make haste lest his friend kill him when he finally arrived. However, something caught his eye. As much as a lone rider apparently caught attention in these parts (Most Lycians travelled with at least one armed companion, this close to Sacae), the group of travelers that passed him caught his eye more. At least half of them were dark-robed, hoods covering their faces. Obviously magic users, although not of any kind Eliwood had ever seen before. At least if they were priests, he had a cult of sorts on his hands. Which was not bloody likely.
The remaining people carried crude weapons and talked loudly amongst themselves in an accent the redhead recognized as Biranese. Eliwood couldn't tell if they were allies of the robed people or simply mercenaries hired by them. At any rate, what he really found interesting was the rather beautiful young woman in their midst. She was caught square in the middle of the walking men, her wrists tied together, and she didn't precisely look happy with her current situation.
Initially, Eliwood figured it wasn't his business, but after passing the group, he pulled his horse to a halt and sighed. "What kind of knight lets a damsel remain in distress..?" He dismounted and left his horse tied to a tree. The lord could ride a horse and he could wield a sword- however, not at the same time. Drawing his Rapier, he gave chase to the group on foot.
They moved as a group, and had a prisoner to keep, so they moved slowly compared to the single swordsman who could run to catch up with them. For a few minutes, he followed them at what he thought was a safe distance. They numbered seven- three mages, two swordsmen, an axeman, and their prisoner. The mages would pose the biggest threat, Eliwood figured, which was a bad thing because there were many of them. He would need his element of surprise… cowardly though it was…
He closed the distance between himself and the axeman, which formed the rear guard, and struck. The swordsmen had turned around at the sound of his rapid footsteps closing in, but the axeman had been more dull-witted and took the hilt of Eliwood's sword to the head. He immediately swiped at the lord, but the redhead was too fast for him to hit. Sadly, this did mean he almost ran straight into a sword. Knowing that three-to-one weren't odds he liked, he decided that taking out his foes wasn't his goal here.
He made his way to the prisoner amidst the confusion and ran his sword through the ties holding her wrists together. "Get away," he managed in his best Biranese (which, admittedly, was awful), but much to his surprise, she stayed. He realized he didn't know what had happened to her prior to his arrival. She could have been hurt. Then again, if she hadn't been, then she probably would have ran when he created an opportunity for her. So he should have known, really.
He dodged the sword stroke of a man shouting at him in Biranese -probably calling him a Lycian bastard or something along those lines, Eliwood wasn't familiar with the most colorful cussing- and struck back, hitting the man in the arm. Apparently his thin sword had hit a muscle or something, for aside from bleeding, his enemy grabbed his arm and stepped back, re-assessing the noble.
By the time Eliwood realized the expression on his foe's face, it was too late. The enemy swordsman had grinned because behind him, one of the mages had been conjuring up a spell while the others watched. Now, the Pheraen lord had little to no experience with magic- the only magic user he was regularly close to was his mother, who would never turn her spells against him. The pain that coursed through him as the spell hit home was agonizing, wracking his body and provoking a good few of his muscles into a spasm, causing him to drop his sword.
Not good. Without a weapon, he was largely helpless against these guys. And even in the off chance that he could get a sword from one of the enemy swordsmen, it would be entirely too cumbersome for him. He knew better than to hope Hector would come looking for him, too. He hadn't taken quite long enough for his friend to go past impatience into concern. Eliwood found, immediately after the pain from the spell itself faded, that it was hard for him to move his limbs.
However, it was strange how the human mind influenced the body so. The noble did not want to die, and his fear of death seemed to spur his body into impossible feats. He dove towards his Rapier, avoiding the axe strike in the process, and picked up his weapon. He did not know how he got back on his feet without taking a hit, but he managed it and incapacitated the axeman with a blow to the shoulder. Satisfied with the opening, he sheathed his sword. The remaining swordsman frowned, confused at this action.
Eliwood used the man's confusion to put his arms around the woman and lift her from the ground. She was incredibly light, even for one with a frame like hers, and it was easy for him to lift her and carry her as he ran for it. Three spells slammed into the ground behind him, where he had stood a second ago, and the swordsman still capable of fighting gave chase. Strangely enough, the mages did not. Eliwood did not question it, he was just grateful. He knew that he could not outrun the swordsman. Instead, he put the woman (who, he now realized, had lost consciousness during their escape) on the ground once he thought he was far enough away from the mages, and drew his sword once more, ready for a duel.
One-on-one, he could beat at least half of the Pheraen knights, so he was not very concerned about this one man. He highly doubted he would be more of a threat than professional, well-trained knights. There would be no salute with this thug- he immediately lashed out once he reached the noble. A stream of words, probably taunting and cursing the unknown name of the redhead. "You'll have to ask my friend," Eliwood said, "I'm afraid I don't speak Biranese."
The exchanging of blows he had expected, came, and he soon found himself falling into a rapid pattern of thrusts and parries. His enemy was faster than he had expected, but he in turn seemed surprised by the durability of Eliwood's thin sword and frame. Finally, the bandit made a mistake, fell for one of Eliwood's feints and showed an opening the noble gladly used. He hated having to do it, but he knew it was the bandit or himself. Thrusting his rapier forwards, he pierced the chest of his enemy.
Miraculously, he had avoided getting any blood on him. The Rapier could be cleaned later, although Hector would undoubtedly ask about it. Putting away his weapon again, he turned back to his temporary protégée. He wondered why she had been captured by those cronies. She certainly was beautiful. Her face was passive in unconsciousness, and partially obscured by the ice blue hair that had to submit to gravity just as much as his own. As he looked at her, he silently hoped he hadn't bruised her when he'd grabbed her before- she looked so frail.
He wondered why she was out here. There were two things he could do… take her with him or try to find a place where she would be safe. Maybe she'd been taken away from her family… Eliwood didn't want to be lauded as a hero, but taking her with him was actually out of the question. Even if Marcus would allow it, his father would not be amused. At any rate, he wouldn't get anything done by staying here, so he carried the woman back to his horse and hoisted both himself and his protégée into the saddle.
It didn't take long before he spotted a group of more savory-looking travelers. In fact, two of them seemed to be Lycian knights! An ice blue-haired boy was clinging to a young woman with long, dark green hair who looked to be of Sacaen descent. With them was a Pegasus Knight, but that was all Eliwood could tell from this distance. A strange group, all in all, but considering the apparent state of mind the boy was in and his hair color and clothing, it was not inconceivable that his protégée belonged with them. He dismounted, carrying the girl in his arms as he approached the group. Once within earshot, he heard the boy shouting something about his sister being taken by a group of sorts.
His hunch had been right. He stepped a bit closer before opening his mouth: "Are you looking for this girl?"
Well, he thought as he took his horse by the reins and watched Lyndis' group depart, that was interesting to say the least. So lord Hausen did have a granddaughter. And she was on her way, not to claim the throne of Caelin, but simply to meet the marquess. "Maybe Lundgren won't turn out to be that big a nuisance after all," he muttered to himself as he patted his horse in the neck.
Hector wasn't going to be pleased though. At least, not initially. He would not be happy that Eliwood had encountered not one, but two incredibly attractive young women in a short period of time, and that was not counting the rather cute Pegasus Knight that had shied away from him when she had spotted him. Eliwood laughed. "What are you laughing at, El?" He looked up. In front of him was Hector, a giant among men that might have scared anyone else by popping up like that. He had his arms crossed and his axe rested on the ground and against his leg. "You're awfully late."
"I got held up on my way here-"
"I thought my axe would rust over before you got here! And here I thought Marcus had taught you to be punctual!"
Hector pretended to be mad, but Eliwood chuckled and put his horse in the pen near the house where the two usually stayed over at times like these. "Thanks for caring, Hector. But there's no need to worry about me… I merely ran into an exotic beauty."
"I'm sure you did." Hector took up his axe and adapted a fighting stance. Eliwood turned around after taking the tack off his horse, but as he unsheathed his sword, he wondered who that girl was aside from the fact that she had been named Ninian, and if he'd ever run into her again. He had the feeling he would… and he wouldn't mind it at all.
Additional Author's Notes: More expanding on stuff that happened off-screen because I can. This could have made for a rather interesting side chapter- controlling Eliwood and trying to secure Ninian from her Black Fang kidnappers. (Goal: Rescue Ninian? That's new…) But then again, I know the sheer HAET he gets and that early in the game he really didn't need much more introduction than he got. At any rate, aside from my thinking out loud, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
…aside from the fact that I suck at combat scenes D: