Askr

Kiran trudged down the ornate hallway with a stack of papers and scrolls in his possession. Unfortunately said stack was high enough to block his field of vision so he was walking blind, though he appeared to be mulling over some strategies that he had went over with the Robins and Soren.

The halls were quiet as it was late at night, the order had just come back from a successful mission in stopping Embla's forces from invading Askr so all the heroes went to celebrate their victory and party like animals, courtesy of Sharena, the girl had loved to be acquainted with as many heroes as she could so she took every and any opportunity to socialize and befriend the heroes. Alfonse wasn't as much so for parties, sure he liked to celebrate sometimes but he usually preferred to hone and train his skills with the sword and people like Chrom and Alm had liked to join him on occasion making Kiran happy that the Askrian prince was making friends with his fellow lords. Kiran, however, was practically the epitome of being shy and anti-social. He was often found working on his strategies alone in the Askrian library or with his fellow strategists, he was glad to have friends that understood him but he was often found with his own group of friends which usually consisted of Eirika, Ephraim... and Tana.

Though they had often joined in Eirika and Ephraim's conversations as of their close friendship, Kiran and Tana have rarely actually spoken to one another one on one, though Kiran believed that he was at fault due to being the shy tactician that he was as well as the fact that he had constantly shoved his face into whatever parchments he could get his hands on.

Kiran sighed before coming to a stop as he turned his head to the side to watch the stars glitter in the dark of the night. He had always enjoyed the late of the day, during the night Kiran would be more composed and at peace as the halls were rather silent, giving himself time to reflect on the day. He wasn't much of a morning person as he would often find himself waking up from Lucina and Chrom's tendencies to break pottery, not that he had ever blamed them, he himself had started training with a sword as he had insisted that he should be able to defend himself when necessary, he wasn't much better off when it came to breaking things when he wasn't focused...

Perhaps his accidental tendencies for the destruction of household objects could be implemented into a new strategy?

He chuckled at the thought silently before continuing to travel back to his office.

Kiran came across the mess hall's large doors which loomed over him, behind the doors, he could hear boisterous laughter and drunken bickering as well as tables being broken in the process. Kiran sighed as he deduced that it was likely the result of a drunk Hector rampaging around, though when the blue giant wasn't drunk, Hector would often be nice company for the shy summoner despite his expressive and loud nature, as long as Kiran made sure not to make any sort lines which would rouse the idea of a competition the two be able to have a pleasant conversation.

He loved taking on the role of a summoner as he had been able to make many new friends despite his shy tendencies but it had always given him a warm and happy feeling in his chest when someone welcomed him into their conversation. Despite the weight that had been put on his shoulders immediately after he had been summoned to this world, he had "taken it quite well" as Anna would quote.

His stare lingered on the wooden door with a hint of longing, as much as he wanted to join them and spend the time to just relax and just talk with the heroes, he had a job to do and that meant that he shouldn't be slacking off or else it could mean heavy casualties.

Kiran shuddered as he remembered the first time one of his units had died, it was something that he wanted to forget but he knew that it was necessary as summoner and tactician to experience these things so that his resolve and determination would be bolstered so he wouldn't be as shaken the next time.

But his first casualty was Eirika.

She was the first five-star unit that he had been able to recruit as well as his very first summon, Ephraim had joined soon after. The squadron which had included Eirika, Ephraim, Robin and Hector had to fend off the forces of Embla from a border invasion. Things had gone well at the start, they had been carefully diminishing and disarming Embla's offending forces through dividing and conquering tactics but Kiran had miscalculated an order of his as he had just realized that he had sent Eirika into a death trap of fliers and archers who were hiding to ambush any unaware soldiers. Being the compassionate and trusting friend she was, the teal haired princess had followed his orders without hesitation but he had only noticed them too late as he heard Eirika's cry of pain.

He had immediately dispatched all his units to follow him towards Eirika's location, only to find her lying on the ground with a multitude of arrows protruding from her abdomen and a flurry of lance strikes were evident from the significant amount of gashes that adorned on her flawless pale skin.

As much as Eirika and Ephraim had tried to convince him that it wasn't his fault, he couldn't forget that bittersweet smile that she had on her face as he held onto her in her last moments, the vacant look in her faded blue eyes and the soft touch of her palm wrapped on his cheek being stripped away as she fell to the ground dead. He had received later that night an outburst and a beating from his good friend Ephraim, he understood the emptiness he felt when someone close to him died. It was painful and he was responsible for it, Kiran felt a part of him die as he took every one of Ephraim's grief stricken blows. The blue haired lord apologized with shame once he had recovered enough to accept visitors, Eirika had also been revived in that time and had scolded her brother for what he did to the summoner and he was truly sorry for it. But Kiran knew that it was his fault that one of his closest friends had died under his command, he knew that he needed to get stronger and smarter, he had to be the best there ever was.

And that meant taking no unnecessary breaks.

Turning back to face the near pitch black corridor the tactician in training sighed before making his way down the pathway, the moonlight being his only source of illumination other than the occasional torches. He would probably need to add that to the list when he got back.

Though as he was deep in thought of thinking up improvements for the hall, the summoner failed to notice the hurried footsteps that were headed in his direction.

That was until he collided against something.

"Gah!" He exclaimed as off of his papers and parchments flew into the air above him, as he landed on the ground with a heavy thud he felt another weight crash onto his fallen form making him groan in pain. A high pitched shriek was also heard upon colliding with the white cloaked figure as he looked up at the dark ceiling with a dazed look before he shook it off to identify what it was that tackled him.

As his viewpoint declined downwards, he spotted a familiar shade of blue, then he came across a familiar princess' dazed figure as she lay on top of him. His cheeks turned a crimson red, "By the Gods, T-tana?!"

Tana groaned quietly on top of him as she rubbed her head with confusion until she found herself inches away from the summoner's face, she stared at his bright golden eyes for a moment before her cheeks matched the same shade as Kiran's. She quickly got off him before apologizing profusely, "Ah, I'm so sorry Summoner! I couldn't see where you were and, um." Kiran had huddled onto a nearby pillar as to hide his evident blush "S-sorry T-t-tana... I... I c-couldn't see w-where I was g-going e-either." He knelt forward to collect his fallen and scrambled parchments, Tana opted to help out as well but he politely refused. "W-why were y-you in such a h-hurry anyways?" He asked with genuine curiosity but his stammering got the better of him this time. The olive-skinned princes rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Well, Eirika and Ephraim asked me if I could bring you to the mess hall since you've been working non-stop, so they suggested that I go to your office but you weren't there, so I ran around the castle until I bumped into you..." She explained, pointing her fingers together, embarrassed at her clumsiness. He nodded in understanding, "I-it's okay, we're both f-fine..." She tilted her head at him curiously, "Are you sure, you seem to be stammering quite a bit?" He nodded in confirmation as his cheeks flared to a deeper shade, "Y-yes, sorry, um..." She nodded with a comforting smile on her face. "It's okay, I understand." She had asked the Renais twins about the summoner's shy behavior and had explained to her that he had a rather tough time growing up in his world so he didn't have the best experiences of interacting with people, though she never seemed to understand how someone so timid and awkward could lead and command an entire army with near perfect strategies.

Once Kiran collected all of his documents and texts, he stood up causing his hood to fall backward onto his upper back as Tana got a good look at what was under the hood of the summoner's cloak.

And she was stunned to see a handsome young man, around her age with pale white skin and messy brown hair which reminded her of the other tactician, Robin was it? A band was attached to a lock of brown hair that fell down at shoulder length, it was a good look on him. She stared into his enchanting golden eyes with wonder as his cheeks suddenly turned red in embarrassment as he attempted to put back on his hood but failed since he had his hands full with his papers. Tana giggled in amusement and pity before she helped him put on the large hood over his head, sighing in relief, he expressed his thanks, his cheeks still red. "T-thank you..." She returned an embarrassed but genuine smile and nod. Nodding back, he turned to leave, though not in the direction of the mess hall, it was the library.

"Where are you going?" She asked, obviously confused as she was meant to have him follow her to the mess hall where all the other heroes were.

He turned halfway towards her with a neutral expression adorning his pale face, "I'm going to the library, I need to brainstorm more plans..." She looked at him with disbelief, was this guy tireless? The man had already worked without a break and had even skipped dinner to plan, though she saw the slight bags underneath his golden eyes... this was becoming a problem. She thought about retorting but had seen the look in his eyes, evidently knowing what she wanted to say but there was a hint of stubbornness that told her that he wouldn't budge. She sighed before turning her head back towards the mess hall doors, "Wait right here." She stated, Kiran was about to object but she ran off into the direction of the mess hall. He supposed that waiting a couple of minutes couldn't hurt as he placed parchments onto the blue carpeted floor.

Tana came back soon after with two plates with food in her hands. Kiran looked at her with surprise as he tilted his head curiously, she giggled. "You need to eat, silly. Don't think that everybody had noticed that you often skip out on your meals?" She teased, the young man stiffened and was about to retort before Tana stepped beside him. "Well then? Let's go!" Kiran only became more confused, "Go where?"

"To the library of course!"

Did she want to go with him? Huh, well that was unexpected... "HUH?!" he exclaimed making the princess laugh, "Eirika and Ephraim have told me about that stubborn wit of yours so it's my duty as one of your soldiers to help keep you in good health, summoner. We can't have our commander fall from food deprivation, now can we?" He sighed while shaking his head, though he supposed that she had a point, he wouldn't be much help to the order if he was starving to death... besides the food smelled pretty good.

"O-okay then..." He hefted the stack of papers onto his arms before taking the lead, "Let's go then..."

"Of course, Summoner."

"Please, it's just Kiran." He replied, Tana beside him stared into his eyes with surprise, the man only turned his head towards her with a kind smile. She giggled before nodding with a light blush adorning her cheeks as she happily hummed to herself as they walked further and further into the moonlit corridor.

A certain pair of Renais twins watched the scene with a hint of held back amusement on their faces, "What should we do brother?" Eirika asked. "Hmm, I think that it would be best that we leave them alone, it would be a good opportunity to have them spend time with one another without our assistance." Eirika nodded happily as they turned back towards the rowdy mess hall.

Have a good night Kiran, Tana.

Well, that's chapter 2 completed of this story, I hope you've enjoyed it.

Writing these are good for the heart and are a good stress reliever from essays due the week after.

Thanks for reading.

Ignis