AN: okay, now we're getting into it! time for some angst and some setting the scene
again, it reads as present first then past second to give an insight into how the present came about and will continue to be in this style until both moments in the story meet up. if it gets too confusing or you don't like it lmk and i'll try and work around it or might even scrap it all together
hope you enjoy!
"Riza!" she heard Roy scream as her world begun to turn black. Heat licked at her skin, sweat prickling atop it. Goosebumps joined the sweat at the sound of his voice, noting the emotion in it. It was like…
It was the call of someone who was about to lose everything.
But… That couldn't be true…
That night in the cave had been a week ago and it was right in this particular moment that Riza regretted that they hadn't talked about it. Instead, Roy had sulked around the Hughes' family home, avoiding her at all costs. Riza had wanted to get it sorted out, before both their worlds unavoidably went to shit, but apparently it wasn't meant to be.
Nothing had been discussed between them.
Now, Riza realised, if she died here at the hands of the man who had tried so desperately to wipe out her family, their legacy, she would never know his true thoughts and feelings towards her.
They were friends, had been since they were kids, but it had become strained in recent months. Whether that was because of the stress of being constantly hunted by their enemy, the threat of the impending and inevitable war, or simply because Roy had just grown tired of her, Riza didn't know. Probably a combination of the three.
There was an inkling of something further between them, but before it could blossom into anything that night in the cave happened. When she looked in Roy's eyes as he begged her not to use the spell that could possibly kill her in a desperate, losing battle, she thought she saw an inkling of that feeling she also harboured, but it was gone when he told her not to take the cowards way out. Even thinking of it now it made her blood simmer in anger.
Now, she never would know.
Riza had often thought they were two sides of the same coin. She nurtured life from the soil while his fire caused destruction, burning all foliage that dared stood in its way. However, Riza could use those vines and tree roots to fight, uprooting and disturbing the ground beneath their feet while Roy used his flames to cook their meals and provide warmth from the cold, giving them access to two of the basic human needs. Their magic worked well together.
It had become evident that the two people wielding it no longer did.
Riza wasn't fully unconscious when there was a sudden silence in the room, her body too exhausted to force her eyes open to see what was happening. Then, there was a strangled yell and Riza couldn't tell if it was Roy or Bradley. The thought of him dying, even after everything that had happened in this last week tore her eyes open, desperate to see if the man she loved was still among the living, if they had finally won their fight, or if it had all been for nought.
Just as Riza opened her eyes, a blinding light filled the small space, making her eyes burn with its intensity.
Even that couldn't keep her awake, because Riza finally succumbed to her magical exhaustion.
A tear rolled down her cheek, crying for the ones she had lost.
They were in hiding in the middle of the great Caledonian Pine Forest – and had been for weeks – which stretched the width of the continent of Alba and travelled miles to the north before it petered out on the hillside of the Torridon Hills – where they were headed now to meet up with their allies. Bradley had his men hot on their heels for months before they retired back to his base of operations in the lowlands to the south. They had heard nothing from the man or his army for the last two weeks. Riza remained cautious, however it was hard not to relish in the rest they had been granted for the moment.
Relaxing temporarily may be the biggest mistake of their lives, but they needed it. The last two months had been hell.
Two hundred miles they had covered – walking – in two months.
Two hundred miles.
Her mother, father, and grandfather had been murdered by Bradley, along with both of Roy's parents, in Riza's family home in the Cairngorm Mountains, the seat of power of the North. Alba was one continent but split into two different kingdoms. Riza's family ruled over the North while Bradley's had ruled the South – the lowlands.
Home.
Now it had been turned to ash.
The grand Hawkeye home, which had been strategically situated on the side of the Cairn Gorm mountain, gave them a sweeping view of the valley below and the surrounding area. It was easily defensible, giving enemy armies only one way to head up the mountain. They could go around or from behind by climbing to the summit, but the Hawkeye defences covered miles around the dozens of mountains surrounding Cairn Gorm. If there was a break in that magical barrier, it would be hours before the enemy could reach their home. By that time, her mother and father would have set out to fight them head on with their magic.
The mountain itself was beautiful, and so was the surrounding area. Riza had always adored it. From her bedroom window she could look down the valley and see the loch far below glistening in the sunlight and looking so inviting in the summer months when the heat was most oppressive. The pine forest petered out on the hillside and opened up to beautiful, heather filled moorland, which was equally as stunning when in bloom. Riza would watch her father's men burn the heather to fertilise the soil for the next season, keeping the ground and plant healthy. Red Deer were a common sight as they grazed on the heather, along with Reindeer. For decades the Hawkeyes had reared Reindeer, maintaining the population, and Riza had discovered she had connected with one in particular. It was a female, its coat pure white.
"That's the only pure white one we have in the herd," her grandfather had told her once she had approached Riza willingly, sniffing her hand then continuing to follow her for the rest of the day. "You must have made a special impact on her."
Riza had beamed.
Now she wondered what had happened to the poor beasts in the attack.
Her home was truly a sight to behold, surrounded by the peaceful Caledonian Forest, but now it had known such horror and bloodshed, Riza feared if she survived this she would never be able to return there without that tragedy haunting the pines, the wind whispering reminders of the night it was burned into her mind.
That had been ten years ago.
She and Roy had escaped thanks to the help of the Armstrong family. Alex Louis Armstrong smuggled the teenagers out of her home and to his own in the east by the sea, just outside the coastal town Stonehaven. The Armstrong and Mustang family had sworn loyalty to the Hawkeye line hundreds of years ago, and to this day, the bond remained strong.
Alex also lost his whole family that day.
That's why they were currently travelling north west and away from the comforts the eastern coastline had brought them for ten years.
To finally face the man who had destroyed their families.
Riza and Roy had been hunted by Bradley's dogs across the kingdom, a few days after they had left the Armstrong home. How they had found them, Riza didn't know, but Alex held his position, defending his family home against the intruders, barking at them he would meet them once this was over. An eagle had found them days later with a letter from their friend, stating he was headed north and was about a week behind them.
They had lost Bradley but refused to stop. They had no family left except from each other, and their nearest hope lay in the northern Torridon with the Hawkeye's allies.
Just one more day then they would be able to rest completely in the safety of their allies.
Then, if all went well, in a week or two Riza Hawkeye would step foot on the land that had been taken from her as Bradley tried to conquer the continents and unite it under absolute rule.
His.
In a few weeks she would be back on land that was rightfully hers as the last remaining person from the Hawkeye line.
If all went well.
originally planned to be five chapters it's now about six/seven lmao so we'll see where this goes!
