Getting hired
A calm, bright morning. It was on that positive note that Oscar had awoken and got out to walk towards the main hall of the mercenaries' fort.
"What a nice weather... Just perfect. This day will be a good one, surely."
He could already hear his brother and Ike training, each on his own side, but certainly aware of each other, and trying to ensure that they were better one than the other. But Oscar did not pay much attention to them, as his mind was busy trying to find out what to cook for breakfast.
However, before he could decide, his reflection was interrupted by the sight of Mist standing in front of the doors, apparently nervous.
"What is it, Mist?"
She replied with a shy whisper, as if she had been afraid of waking or disturbing somebody.
"There is somebody in the hall... It seems like he has been here for the whole night... I... I'm too scared to go in alone..."
Oscar simply smiled, as nothing could break his good mood on such a nice day.
"Are you sure it isn't Shinon who fell asleep there after having been drunk again?"
She shook her head rapidly.
"No, he was awake, and I just saw his eyes... It cannot be Shinon."
"Fine, then. It must be somebody who wants to hire us. But I am afraid the commander isn't up yet. He will have to wait some more. But I'm going in anyways."
Mist followed him, of course, as he entered the main hall, without even taking notice of the small man who was sitting on a bench, his head laying on a table. The young girl crept a little bit closer, curious to see more of his features, but afraid to meet his eyes again. She stepped back when the boy moved, and fled quickly to join Oscar in the kitchen.
It was about ten minutes later that a small group entered the hall, talking very loudly, and the noise woke up the stranger, who lifted up his head to stare at the newcomers, who had not even noticed his presence. One of them let out a loud moan, that slightly surprised the unexpected guest. Shinon's cry echoed through to the kitchen, and warned the cookers that they would soon be invaded with hungry complaints if the meal was not to come soon. Right after each had taken a seat, Oscar came out of the kitchen, and asked the stranger, "Do you want something to eat or drink? We are about to est our breakfast, and the commander should be here soon. Feel free to take the meal with us, if you want."
It was only then that, after the young man had stood up and turned his back on the whole group, without even bothering to answer, all of a sudden, everybody became aware of his presence. A murmur went through the small group, starting from Shinon. The grouchy sniper glanced at the stranger with disdain, then muttered, "Man, this guy sure is more stuck-up than those goddamn high officials that come to get the taxes."
As if he hadn't heard, the stranger calmly walked to the board, where the list of the missions was displayed. There, he seemed to get absorbed in his reading of the names and tasks, so focused on it that he barely noticed Titania's nonetheless loud arrival in the main hall. However, as soon as she saw him, the quickly went out of the building, thus adding to the fun Shinon had taken in mocking the silent and unsympathetic young man.
"You see? You scared her, with your taxman countenance! Now, she went to warn Greil not to show up, and you'd better leave, for your own sake, little man!"
However, totally focused on the names written on the list, the boy didn't even hear the drunk sniper's rather unpleasant comments about his physique and attitude.
Then, a few minutes later, the doors nearly burst out open as the commander himself entered the hall, as impressive as he could be, and closely followed by his deputy commander, who indicated him where was the unexpected guest. Titania took a seat at the same table as the rest of the group, waiting for the breakfast, as the leader of the mercenaries went to meet with the young man.
"I am Greil, head of this mercenary group, You are welcome here, sir."
The other one nodded, still staring at the list, while his fingers began to move nervously, clinging to his clothing when they could.
"Is there something we can do to help you?"
His whole body froze when he heard the question, and he cast a troubled glance towards the whole room, and then met Greil's eyes.
"I don't know..."
The answer had been nothing more than a whisper, as if the boy had been afraid of having people hear him. However, the complete silence, that had taken over the whole hall as soon as Greil had spoken, allowed every soul in the room to hear the words perfectly well.
"What is that? Is he retarded or something?"
Titania sent a deadly glare at Shinon, for having spoken such a nasty remark so loudly, when she noticed the strange pitch in his voice.
"Don't tell me you got drunk again! Oh, my, what do we look like, right now, if that man had come to hire us..."
The woman seemed about to tear the sniper apart, but she simply sent him a furious glare to warn him to stay low. To her anger, he responded with a proud and defiant look, before returning his attention to the boy.
"Do you need our group's help for something?" asked Greil, rather troubled by the enigmatic answer he had just got. This time, the stranger remained completely silent, which led the commander to ask another question. At that same moment, Ike and Boyd, both covered in sweat, entered the main hall, and the boy's eyes followed the two teenagers until they sat among the rest of the group.
"Are you perhaps looking for a job?"
A tiny, timid smile appeared in the stranger's face, and his features suddenly seemed to light up.
"Yes... That would be it..."
An anxious glance to the side from the young man was enough to convince Greil that the hall's activity troubled the traveler and was somehow linked to his attitude and reactions. In light of that, Ike's father decided that going outside was the best way for him to judge if the boy was always that way, and if hiring him was a good idea.
"Let's go outside, shall we? It's such a bright day, and it will be more quiet for us to discuss."
After getting a small nod of approval as an answer, the commander led the young stranger outside, and Shinon saw no reason to stay silent any more.
"I'll bet they will be back within the next ten minutes, and that he will cry for having been refused."
"Why do you say that, Shinon?" asked hungry young Ike.
"Did you take a good look at him? He will never lift a weapon off the ground! And even Rolf could break him in two, I'll bet. Of what use could he ever possibly be?"
The discussion could have gone on, hadn't the meal been ready, and while they were all eating, Greil had brought the young man quite far from the main hall building before asking his first question. As the interview went on, the stranger's intelligence kept impressing him, as, to every question, every answer came like it had been thought within a second. Yet, there were some elements that the boy refused to give away, like his origins and what had led him to the mercenaries, but he got away from each uneasy subject so easily that even the leader of the mercenaries had not noticed how few were the questions he had answered in a truly satisfactory way.
"You seem to have travelled quite a lot before you got here. How old are you?"
The young man stopped walking, and lowered his eyes.
"To be honest, I don't really know."
They resumed their walk, the young traveler's hands having withdrawn in his clothing, while the commander laughed mildly, trying to ease his guest a little bit.
"Hm. Judging from your looks, you must be approximately as old as Ike, my son. Anyways, it doesn't really matter. Did you fight on your way here?"
"A few dumb bandits. Easily slain. Nothing more challenging than that."
Greil shook his head, apparently satisfied, and then stopped, as the biggest building of the fort was once again in sight.
"I'm willing to give you a chance. You seem like a reliable lad who will quickly learn the ways. But, before I officially hire you, there is something I would like to know. With what kind of weapon do you fight?"
The young man once again lowered his head, and then cleared his throat before answering.
"Er... Actually, I don't wield any kind of weapon. I am more of a mage."
As much as the boy seemed to expect a complete refusal, that detail seemed to add to Greil's growing list of the qualities he saw in him.
"What kind of magic?"
"Elemental. Wind, more precisely."
"Could I see?"
Inside, only Titania noticed how long it had taken before Greil and the stranger came back in the main hall. But when the doors opened once again, everyone turned to take a look at the scene that was taking place at the entrance of the building.
"Welcome with us, young man. I shall ask Titania to show you where you will stay," greeted the commander, as he shook hands with the mage.
"What? Nooooo!" cried the grouchy sniper. "It can't be!"
"Well, Shinon, you have a bill to pay, now!" said Mist, laughing, as well as the rest of the group.
"No! How could Greil hire such a ninny?"
"Well, Shinon, you owe me a good five hundred gold, now," replied Gatrie, satisfied with the outcome of the event.
~ Later that day ~
"Ah! There you are! I've been looking for you for ages!"
The young man's head lifted up from the book he had been reading, and his eyes rolled as he groaned. Who was coming to disturb him as he was enjoying the peace of solitude? He had needed to move to a different spot thrice already, just to ensure that nobody would come to disturb him. Who could have wanted to find him so desperately that he had begun searching in the trees? And when night was about to fall?
He was about to spit a bitter remark about the fact that he preferred solitude and calm, when he saw the features of the noisy young man who had called him out so loudly. The dark blue hair and the shining blue eyes he had looked for since such a long time...
"You're not exactly the kind of sociable person that I'm used to, aren't you? Why do you hide that way?"
"I'm not about to answer that."
"Well, then, won't you come down for the night, or I have to tell my father and Titania that you've chosen a tree as your bedroom?"
"What exactly are you here for?" asked the mage, mistrustful, even though nothing negative was to be found in the eyes of the commander's son.
"Titania asked me to show you to your new room."
"Wasn't she supposed to do it herself?"
"Yes, but since it is my room as well, I told her that I would come and fetch you."
"Fine."
His hearth pounding from a hopeful thought, the boy jumped down, right beside the young warrior, who gave him a huge smile, before greeting him with another question.
"Are you always so suspicious?"
"Why do you ask?" replied the mage, a fade grin on his face, as he clenched his grip on his book. Ike held back a great smile, as the newcomer's answer was more than ironic : it had been thought to have that specific effect.
"By the way, I am Ike. The chief's son, if you prefer," said the noisy boy, showing a hand. However, seeing that the other boy kept himself quite far, he took it back.
"Ike shall do well for me."
"Good! I wouldn't have appreciated being called 'chief's son' all the time. And you?"
"I'm Soren. Glad to meet you, Ike."
With a shy motion, and while his eyes pinned themselves on the ground, Soren mimicked Ike's previous movement, trying to be warm, but anxious as if he had feared that this first contact would be refused because he had earlier declined it.
"So am I," responded the blue-haired young man, as he happily took the mage's hand to shake it, which made the scarlet beads appear once again and meet his blue eyes. "You and I are the same age, from what I've heard. You sure are young to be a fighter."
"So are you, then."
Ike laughed heartily, as the mage had immediately returned the statement, without even taking a second to think as whether to say it or to remain quiet.
"Soren, you and I are going to become good friends, I think," joyfully stated Greil's son, as his shining blue eyes clutched more intensely into the scarlet ones of the young mage. Soren replied with a mild, sincere smile, as his heart beat fast from happiness. It was the first moment since a long time that he truly felt like having accomplished something. He had found the boy who had saved him. From that moment, nothing could ruin his day. Lady Luck had finally decided to smile to him, and had greeted him with a gift even greater than he had ever hoped to get.
"I sure hope so."