A/N: I own nothing except my OC`s. Fire Emblem is owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.
It had been seven years since I was brought into this world. Mom had died from an illness about four years ago, making Gangrel, my dad, the lone King of the country, Plegia. Vanessa, a friend of mom, was made my caretaker and retainer. She has actually spent more time with me than Dad.
I was now sitting in my room, reading a book about warfare. It was pretty basic stuff.
"Why do I have to read all this again?" I asked Carl, my teacher.
"A prince must be knowledgeable about warfare" he replied.
"Yeah, I`m sure you know all about that" I sarcastically muttered. In response I received a smack in the back of my head.
"Do not take that tone young man!" Carl demanded.
"Alright" I sighed, going back to reading. No need to smack me though sheesh. After hours of reading, exciting I know, someone knocked on the door.
"Coming" Carl said, walking towards the door. Opening the door, he saw a soldier standing outside.
"King Gangrel had requested the presence of Prince Oscar" the soldier saluted.
"Really? Well I can`t disobey a direct order from the King" Carl sighed. "You heard him Lord Oscar" he said.
"Alright" I sighed in relief, closing my book and standing up.
"This way milord" the soldier said. I followed him through the halls. As we walked, I noticed that there were many red flags with…some kind of pattern on them. It was six circles, three on each side of a line.
"Mind telling me what that pattern is?" I asked, pointing to a flag.
"Those are the eyes of Grima sir" the soldier replied.
"Grima? Is that the "Fell Dragon" I`ve heard about?" I asked.
"Yes sir" the soldier replied.
"Good to know" I stated. We kept walking through the halls. At least it beats reading all day. It took a while, but we reached a pair of large double doors. A pair of soldiers were guarding them, for obvious reasons I presume. They saluted me.
"I come here by request of the King" my escort stated. The guards nodded before opening the large doors. As we entered the, I guess, throne room, I noticed that there were more of those flags. In the middle of the room, Dad was standing with two men on both sides of him. On his right, a man with slicked back red hair, wearing a red shirt underneath golden armor. On his left, the other man had black hair and red eyes, wearing black and purple robes. Somehow, he gave me the creeps.
"So, this is Prince Oscar" he mused.
"Take your leave soldier" Dad commanded.
"Yes sir" the soldiers bowed before leaving me with the three men. As he did, Vanessa entered the room.
"Ah, we were waiting for you" the red haired man said.
"Forgive me, I was looking Lord Oscar. I was unaware that he was already here" Vanessa apologized.
"So why am I here exactly?" I asked.
"Well, I thought it was about time you learned to defend yourself" Dad replied. At the age of seven?
"With all due respect my King, is it not a little early for him to be taught that now?" Vanessa asked.
"Bah, the earlier the better I say" Dad retorted. "Captain Orton here will teach you the basics" he added, pointing to the red haired man. Orton huh? Interesting name.
"Come to the courtyard once you are ready" Orton stated.
"Right" I gave a nod. Just then, a maid approached us.
"Excuse me sirs" she called. "Your dinner is ready."
"Finally" I sighed.
"Well, I hate to put an end to this conversation" Dad sarcastically stated.
"We can continue this later if need be" the dark haired man said.
"Very well then, well met King Gangrel, Prince Oscar" Orton bowed before leaving. Finally, I get to eat.
"Goodbye then" the dark haired man left shortly after. He still creeps me out. What is his name?
"Please, follow me" the maid said. Dad and I did as we were told.
Dinner was quiet. Neither Dad nor I said anything, just eating our food. The maids and butlers simply stood around the table, some taking away empty plates. Like most of the castle, the room was dimly lit. I pushed my seat away from the table, causing a maid to walk up to me.
"Are you finished, milord?" she asked.
"Yeah, thanks for the meal" I replied.
"Anything else you need?" she asked.
"No, I`m good" I said. "I`m going to the courtyard" I called out. Of course, Dad didn`t say anything.
"Be safe, milord" the maid bowed. As I walked towards the doors, a pair of servants bowed before opening it. Vanessa was standing outside the dining room.
"Did you enjoy your meal, milord?" she asked.
"As much I could" I replied.
"I take it you are heading towards the courtyard" she said.
"Yeah" I replied.
"I see, then I will lead you there" Vanessa said. I had no reason to deny her this.
"Alright" I said in response. She then walked of and I followed her. The walk was just like dinner, quiet and boring. Any soldier or servant we either saluted or bowed to me. Not that this was anything new. We made a quick stop at my room to change into a simple white tunic, much better for dealing with the heat. It took another 30 or so minutes before we reached the courtyard.
"Why is there so much sand here?" I asked.
"That is how most of this country is, milord" Vanessa replied. "Unlike its neighbor, most of Plegia is a wasteland. That is the main reason for the difficulty of growing crops. Surely your teacher has taught you this" she added.
"Probably, maybe I just didn`t listen" I agreed.
"Just please try to pay attention, milord" Vanessa sighed.
"Sure" I said. Trudging through the sand, I noticed something in the corner of my eye. I turned towards it and… what the hell? I stared at a giant skull.
"What is that?" I loudly asked.
"That is the remains of the Fell Dragon" Vanessa replied.
"Why is in the damn courtyard?!" I yelled.
"No one knows, milord" Vanessa replied. That`s a lousy excuse! Whatever, we continued to walk, but I eyed the skeleton carefully. We found Orton not long after.
"Ah, so you came after all" he stated.
"Of course, I did say I would" I replied.
"I will stay to watch over him, I hope that won`t be a problem" Vanessa said.
"Oh, that won`t be a problem" Orton assured. "Now, for your first task you will run fifteen laps around this area" he told me.
"Fifteen?" I asked in disbelief.
"Relax, most soldiers have to run twice as many" Orton said. "I`m taking it easy on you". Sure, that will make me feel better.
"Alright, if you say so" I sighed. I then began running around the edges of the courtyard.
Long story short, it only took about three, maybe four, laps before I collapsed from exhaustion. Vanessa had to drag me to a place with shade so I could catch my breath.
"Shouldn`t you pick a weapon, milord?" my retainer asked me.
"Right, I almost forgot about that" I stated. "So what are my options?"
"Wait here a moment" Orton said, walking back inside. I guess he has to get something. After a few minutes, he came back carrying various items. Dropping them on the ground, I saw a sword, an axe, a spear, a bow and… different colored books? What the heck?
"As you can see, you have the choice between swords, axes, lances, bows and tomes" Vanessa explained.
"What are tomes?" I asked.
"Think of them as books that can cast magic" Orton replied. So books can cast magic in this world… okay.
"They will require some reading to understand" Vanessa stated.
"So what will it be, milord? Will you go with magic, or traditional weapons?" Orton asked. Hm, not that hard of a choice really.
"I`ll go with traditional weapons" I replied.
"Very well, Vanessa, take away the tomes" Orton told my retainer/caretaker.
"As you wish, Captain Orton" Vanessa bowed. "I assume you have an idea for a teacher".
"I thought you might suffice for now" Orton bluntly replied. Wow Orton, you could try to be a little less blunt.
"…Very well" Vanessa sighed. "We will start practice tomorrow, milord. For now, please get some rest" she told me.
"Sure thing" I nodded.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Dad and I didn`t talk too much, as usual. The next day, Vanessa woke me up rather early.
"Why so early?" I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
"It is best that we start early, milord" Vanessa replied. After getting me dressed, we head somewhere I`ve never been before. At least, I`ve never heard of it. It was a large room with wooden dummies lined up in the middle. Practice swords, axes and spears were lined up along the walls. I could tell they were practice ones because the blades were wooden.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"This is the training grounds" Vanessa replied. "Many elite soldiers trained here frequently".
"Does Dad know of this place?" I asked.
"Most likely" Vanessa replied. Suddenly, the door behind me swung open. A girl my age with short red hair and blue eyes wearing a blue entered the room.
"I`m here, Mom" she called out. Vanessa has a daughter?
"You came early today, Mina" Vanessa stated.
"Well, you always complain about me being late" Mina retorted. She then turned to towards me. "Who`s he?" she asked.
"That is Prince Oscar, son of King Gangrel" Vanessa replied.
"Wait, you`re the Prince?" Mina`s eyes widened before she bowed. "Forgive me sire!" she practically shouted.
"It`s okay, no need to shout" I tried to assure her.
"Now, since both of you are here, we can now commence" Vanessa said. "You will start by practicing basic swings on the dummies" she stated. I simply nodded, it`s probably best to just listen to her. I picked up a practice blade and went over to a wooden dummy. I then began swinging and stabbing at the thing. Vanessa gave me tips and guidelines along the way. This went on for, two, maybe three minutes.
"Are we done?" I asked.
"Not quite yet" Vanessa bluntly replied. "Now you will spar against each other. Once one of you knock the other to the ground, you win." Seems simple enough. After catching my breath, I picked the practice sword back up. We faced each other, pointing our swords at one another. I dashed at Mina, who blocked my swing. She then shoved me backwards, causing me to almost fall to the ground. I got ready to block her counter swing, but she simply hit my leg, making me trip.
"Crap!" I exclaim as I fall to the floor.
"I win" Mina smirked triumphantly. You sure are happy with yourself.
"Well then, that will be all for now" Vanessa stated. "We will continue this in the afternoon." Sounds fair enough. Mina helped me up on my feet. After saying their goodbyes, my retainer and her daughter left the training grounds. I left the place shortly.
A/N: And that ends this chapter. Sorry if the training and the sparring ended abrubtly. I just wasn`t sure how to write it without it getting boring. If any of you have any suggestions on who Oscar should be paired with let me now. Anyways, hope you enjoyed as usual. See you all next chapter and have a fantastic night.
