This is so typical of me. Writing a fanfiction ten years after everyone stopped caring about the particular fandom. Now people are all over the new Fire Emblem stuff. None will ever take FE 9 and 10's place in my heart.
I had this idea pop up in my head after reading Shinon and Gatrie's A support in Path of Radiance. The one where Shinon reveals that he actually cares for his buddy and doesn't just make fun of him. Poor Gatrie...
I friggin' LOVE Shinon. I know many people hate him because he's an asshole but that's exactly what's so awesome about him. And if you just pay a little attention to his conversations, you really get to see that he really isn't as mean as he makes himself out to be. He's really a big softy.
So in this oneshot here, we have an alternate ending to the A support I just mentionned, where Shinon actually goes to get Gatrie's money back. So you get a glimpse of Hardcore!Shinon. So slight warning for non consequencial violence.
Also, take note that English is not my first language so don't be surprised if you see any strange sentences. If you would kindly point them out to me, I will fix them.
000
"All your money? That's going too far. I'll find her and... get it back."
"Well... Nah, that's all right. I mean, it's my fault anyway."
Gatrie sighed, smiling at his own naivete. He liked to believe it was part of his charm but he knew his friend wouldn't see it like that.
"Come with me" said friend ordered, not awating an answer. "Tell me if you see her."
Shinon firmly grabbed his bulky friend by the wrist and dragged him to the village next to which the army had established its camp. Night was falling quickly but the village was still bustling with life. Taverns, in particular, were very noisy and animated. Gatrie let himself be led by his buddy, his blue eyes searching for the pretty lady who had made a fool of him.
Why was Shinon so adamant about finding her? It wasn't HIS money. Maybe she had made off with his whole monthly pay but Gatrie wasn't angry about it. The memory of her beautiful face was a payment in and of itself. Not that he'd ever tell that to Shinon. Probably all it would earn him would be a slap upside the head.
After a short while of searching in the busiest parts of town, Shinon stopped, letting go of his arm.
"Where did you meet her the first time?"
"In a bar... around here I think" Gatrie answered.
Shinon immediatly headed in the direction he was pointing, his long red ponytail beating across his shoulders at the rythm of his steps, Gatrie following behind him.
The duo made an unnoticed entrance in the tavern where dozens of people talked, laughed and drank noisily. The place wasn't exactly clean or classy. It was exactly the kind of place Shinon and him frequented.
Nobody paid attention to the two mercenaries standing in the doorframe. Both adorned their casual clothing; Shinon without his bow, quiver and light armor and Gatrie without his lance, shield and massive wall of an armor.
"Do you see her?" the sniper asked, leaning close to him so he could hear over the chatting and singing of the drinking villagers.
Gatrie ran his gaze across the tavern, stopping on each feminine shape it came across, not depriving himself of enjoying the sight, looking for the familiar face of the woman he though had been his newtest conquest.
"Over there. With the blue hair." Gatrie finally said just before Shinon got impatient, pointing towards a beautiful young lady, slender and elegant, chatting with a man sitting at the bar, laughing in an exagerated manner to all he said.
Shinon's hawk-like gaze locked on its prey and he straightened up, cracking his neck.
"Let it go, Shinon. It's not worth it." Gatrie pleaded, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder, all too aware of his fiery temper...
"I told you you'd get your money back and you will get it back." Shinon retorted firmly. Gatrie became slightly nervous upon seeing the mischievous smile that slowly appeared on the redhead's face. "Everything will be alright, you'll see."
Sighing uneasily, Gatrie followed the archer as he made his way through the crowd and found his spot at the bar, right next to the blue haired woman who had her back turned to him as she was speaking with the same man. The general went and positionned himself between him and the girl. Never put youserlf between Shinon and his target...
The archer waited patiently for the conversation between the woman and the man to make a pause, declining a drink that was offered to him by the barman, before letting lose his first arrow :
"You look pretty good for someone who only has days left to live." he remarked, loud enough to attract her attention. And attract her attention it did.
"Excuse me, mister?" she asked as she turned towards Shinon.
The woman had wavy sky blue hair reaching her shoulders and equally blue and innocent eyes. A pretty and oval shaped face and a delicate and graceful body. Exactly the kind that made Gatrie lose all common sense.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I though you had... brain stones or something like that." Shinon pressed, an uncharacteristicly innocent expression on his face.
The woman's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to say something but Shinon didn't give her the opportunity. His innocent look instantly faded and was replaced by a threatening glare.
"You remember this guy?" Shinon questionned, leaning back to let her catch a glimpse of Gatrie behind him, the blonde knight waving an awkward hand in her direction.
A flicker of recognition passed through the woman's eyes, which the sniper didn't miss but she once again turned her back on the duo, determined now to ignore them.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Gatrie saw his red haired friend stand up and pretend to walk towards the exit. For a second, the general actually though his friend had changed his mind and decided to leave. How wrong he was...
With speed that would put the Raven King to shame, Shinon grabbed the knife he always kept concealed under the flaps of his green tunic and grabbed the woman, trapping her in a vicious headlock, placing his sharp blade milimeters from her throat. The woman yelped in surprise but remained still in his grasp, too stunned and terrorised to make a move. The tavern became suddenly very quiet, every pair of eyes drawn to the altercation. Gatrie jumped to his feet reflexively, but stopping himself immediatly, hesitating to interupt Shinon.
He knew Shinon always kept a knife on his person. An archer like him could hardly defend himself when an ennemy came too close for him to draw his bow. He had seen him on multiple occasion slitting throats of ennemies that managed to get close without getting an arrow in the eye. But he wouldn't go that far for a couple of gold coins, would he?
Shinon maintained his iron grip on his target, keeping her completely immobilised against his chest with his right arm, and threatening her with the knife with his left. The blue haired woman was shaking in her boots, her eyes wide and teary.
"Let me refresh your memory." Shinon spat close to her ear. "You met this kind and generous young man right here" -he gestured towards his bulky friend, who was still watching nervously- "and you told him you had brain stones and only had a few days left to live. You then took his entire pay, supposedly to afford treatment. He waited for you to return, but you didn't."
The tavern dwellers, who were observing the scene all along, exchanged a few perplexed looks among themselves upon hearing those words.
"My friend here would really like to get his money back and he hasn't got all night." the sniper warned her, tightenign his grip.
On some rare occasions, Shinon could make himself truly terrifying. He could muster this death stare that would have made Ashnard tremble and let his height and mean attitude do the rest. Had they not met as kids, Gatrie would probably never have approached him.
"I don't have it!" the woman shakily exclaimed. "I spent it all."
Shinon's evil look did not subside. If anything it got even meaner, like he had been waiting for her to walk right into his trap.
"Oh really..." he said. "...and what have we here?"
As he was talking, Shinon slid his blade downwards, taking care in letting the tip barely touching her stomach, and stopped it near the coin purse tied to her belt, which emmited the characteristic tinkle of gold coins clinking together. The woman's eyes darted left and right as if looking for help but no one dared to get up. Gatrie smiled guiltily when their eyes crossed again.
With a swift but well calculated movement, Shinon cut the leather chord tying the purse to the belt, earning a cry of surprise from the captive, and grabbed it, before roughly shoving the woman away from him. She had to catch herself on the bar to prevent herself from falling on her face. The innocent look was back in Shinon's face, despite the sharp knife he was holding and started counting the coins one by one, completely ignoring everyone's frightened stares. He kept a dozen coins in his hand.
"2000. Here you go, Gatrie!" he said, throwing the purse at his friend who caught it clumsily. "And this..." - he shook his fist, holding the dozen coins - "is for disturbing me."
And then, Shinon slipped the coins in his own pocket and turned heels towards the exit, nonchalantly brushing off the scandalized look the blue haired woman darted at him. That was the signal that it was time to leave. Gatrie followed in his steps, taking care to smile and mutter a sorry to her, and exited the tavern to follow his friend who was heading back in the direction of the army camp, his icy blue eyes staring straight ahead with their usual bored expression, accompanied by his lazily hunched posture.
"You didn't have to be so brutal, Shinon! That poor girl looked like she was gonna wet herself."
"You got your money, didn't you? And that'll make this bitch think twice before cheating idiots like you out of their money."
"But still..."
"Give me a break. I didn't even scratch her."
Gatrie gave a defeated sight. What a shame that she had been a dishonest thief... she was so pretty. He had been so sure that fate had brought them together. That she was just a damsel waiting for her knight to rescue her. Shinon had a way of ruining his dreams. It was never with ill intentions, however...
"You really do care about me, don't you?" Gatrie asked, barely able to hold back his smile. He had learned over the years exaclty what buttons to push to get Shinon angry. One way to do it was to suggest he was a caring and loving individual.
"Shut up, Gatrie." he growled, all trace of pleasure erasing from his features.
"It's true! You're always there to defend me when bad people try to take advantage of me!" he pushed to make him even more uncomfortable. And he saw that it was working.
"I said shut up!"
Gatrie knew his friend well. He knew all of his personnality traits and quirks, his habits and his boundaries. One of those bizarre traits was that he hated being complimented or having people point out his acts of kindness. Ever since they were kids, Shinon always tried to project this tough, insensitive and uncaring image. But the blue knight knew that his apparent coldness was merely a facade behind which a caring man who was furiously attached to the very few people he had let touch him.
Shinon had always been a perfectionnist. Despite his immense talent, none of the shots he fired, none of the bows he crafted were ever good enough to live up to his expectations and so he never accepted any compliments about his work. Unless it was to rub it in someone he didn't like's face. The same rule applied to (seldom heard) compliments made about his behavior.
The marshall was one of the very few select people Shinon appreciated (even if he would never admit it) and furiously defended when he judged he had been wronged to a too great extent. He rememberd a few occurrences of when, as kids, he was being made fun of by the neighborhood kids and Shinon made a couple of them bite the dust. Literally.
"Do you remember when we were young, and the neighborhood kids kept calling me stupid and fat and you sent them bleeding and crying in their mom's skirts?"
There was a moment of silence as the two walked side by side, during which Shinon said nothing but Gatrie knew he remembered very well. The archer used to be quite the brawler in his early days even if he was short and scrawny at the time.
"No one is allowed to make fun of you Gatrie..." He paused, casting a lazy gaze across the horizon. "Except for me."
Gatrie burst in laughter, slapping his friend on the back good naturely. Shinon pretended to be offended but even he couldn't hold back his laugh. The two friends made their way back to camp remembering amusing anecdotes from their younger years.
000
So there you have it.
Shinon always seemed like the kind of guy who is an indiscriminate meanie. Doesn't care if it's men or women.
I also have this idea of how Shinon and Gatrie met. I imagine they were childhood friends and that Shinon was totally that problem child. I might write a story about this.