- The Verus Chronicles -
Disclaimer: I only own Verus, nothing else.
AN: Hey, how come I'm the last one to know about the ToS manga? Well, whatever, if you haven't read it yet, you need to, it's awesome! Go to a website called Onemanga. That's where I read it. Anyway, about this chapter, it's completely out of chronological order and I hope that doesn't confuse you guys too much... It's way after the last two chaps. Enjoy!
Chapter Three – Campaign –
--
The king of Meltokio had an entire fleet of knights and soldiers at his disposal. And yet he still demanded Zelos and Sheena's presence during his campaign. Of course, Sheena knew that her accompaniment was required, as she had been the agent assigned to the very towns and villages on the designated route.
The moon and stars lit the night and presently, Sheena found herself at the north end of the company's camp, sitting cross legged on a grassy plain. She had volunteered for a night watch in hopes of ridding the restlessness she felt ever since they joined up with his majesty and his numerous guards. Perhaps she simply just didn't want to appear lazy to anyone, regardless, she felt like she needed something to do.
It was all rather boring really, as one had to behave and act proper at nearly all times of the journey... Unless of course, Zelos had anything to do with it, he naturally had a way of playing around and getting away with it.
She gave a quick, wary scan of the area and with a satisfied sigh, glanced up to the cloudless, dark blue sky. This was going to be a long trip. As it was, it must have taken her and Zelos the best part of a year to complete the initial emissary work. This new assignment in itself would most likely take a few months to complete.
With that grueling prospect, Sheena found herself plotting up reasons to be excused from the job. She scowled with the thought, dropping her gaze to her hands. These thoughts, they were so unlike her, she believed in working hard, and yet, when she thought through her feelings, all she really wanted was to skip out on this responsibility. Like a child that was determined to get out of doing an unpleasant chore.
Speaking of chores... Sheena heard soft footsteps behind her as they came to mesh with the grassy floor. "Yo," Zelos greeted along with something of a mock salute as he neared his wife.
Sheena regarded him placidly through a sidelong glance and a similar greeting but otherwise didn't move from her spot.
Zelos knelt down from behind and threw both arms over Sheena's shoulders, his head beside hers as he leaned on her leisurely. "An entire regiment of soldiers and you're stuck with guard duty?"
"I got bored," was her answer, simple as it was, she didn't really expect it to satisfy him. At the same time she really didn't want admit what she had been planning.
"Come on hun, I know there's more to it than that," Zelos drolled, nudging her head with his.
"I was just thinking about..." Sheena trailed off and shifted uncomfortably under his weight, she hated lying, more so than getting caught. "About how I might be able to ditch this assignment..." she tried to make it an incoherent answer, but Zelos ears seemed to perk up at the sound of it.
"What's this? My Sheena? Shirking on her job?" Zelos all but gasped in response, pulling away in surprise but only for an instant.
"What?! No, I was only just thinking about it, I wasn't really gonna do it!" Sheena exclaimed nervously and jerked away from him, waving her hands frantically in order to further her point.
Wiping fake tears of happiness, Zelos sniffed. "I'm so proud!"
"Well don't be, because it's not gonna happen!" growled the ninja, her arms crossed and her chin tucked moodily.
"Aww, don't be like that," Zelos said. "I'll even help you think up an excuse!" He sat down cross legged beside her, tapping his chin and applying the most thoughtful expression to his face.
Sheena's features soon faded from annoyed to concerned, as her mind shifted to another matter that demanded her attention. "And... I'm also concerned about Grandfather, although we will be passing by the village eventually..."
"Are you kidding?" Zelos blurted. "Sheena, that old man was as spry as a grasshopper the last time we seen him... I'm sure he's fine."
"Yeah, but he's a good actor too... I get the feeling he's acting that way to make me feel better."
"But you don't feel better... do you?" With no reply and Sheena's countenance directed downward, Zelos knew his companion was once again, beginning to drift to that isolated island in her mind. He scowled; he hated that island, and he was going to do everything in his power to stop her from going there.
Dwelling on her grandfather had been a common occurrence lately, which was one thing in itself, but when it was accompanied by a chain of worry and doubt, Sheena knew she either needed to do something about the problem, or accept the fact that she couldn't. She absently wondered where Verus was, mind you, she was rarely ever overly concerned about his whereabouts, but she felt like she needed something to occupy herself with, even if it was something as trivial as stroking the wolf's fur.
Zelos kept to the flow of Sheena's temperament, waiting patiently for the right time to execute his rescue mission. He had performed many of these over their course of time together, and naturally, his confidence only grew more each time. Placing one hand on each knee, he closed his eyes and managed to hold something of a proper seriousness. "Hm, well, you could always say you're pregnant. That's a good excuse."
"W-what?!-" Sheena snapped sharply, her anxieties gone in that instant.
Zelos smirked wickedly; It worked every time. "In Meltokio, the lady knights used to claim that now and then, and they got away with it."
"That's probably because they were actually pregnant!"
"Not so! I used to vouch for em all the time!
"Zelos!" Sheena barked at him, indignant, for obvious reasons.
"I kid. I kid!" the man defended, rapidly waving a hand and mumbled incoherently over his shoulder, "though there might be a rumor or two flouting around..."
Fuming her aggravation out with a sigh, Sheena dropped her gaze discontentedly. "It wouldn't work anyway; I hate lying."
In response to that, Zelos' blue eyes slit into a sly instigation, and Sheena knew with but a glance that he was about to twist things for his favor. "Who ever said you had to lie?"
As though prepared for such a comment, Sheena cuffed his shoulder, her initial intent having little relevance compared with her words. "Don't start, it's not that simple, and you know it." She aimed a finger at him for an added authoritative flare, even if she already knew it wouldn't assist the outcome, she figured a strict edge was always worth a try.
"But Sheena," Zelos said, nearly howling her name with little to no regard to the ungodly hour. "It is that simple." He leaned his head on her shoulder, his eyes cast downward, at a particularly tacky looking charm about her wrist.
"You idiot," Sheena nearly scoffed. "We've already discussed this. Now isn't the time for a kid."
"Then humor a fantasizing idiot," the swordsman replied slovenly as he shifted himself to lay his head in her lap, as though he were about to have a bed time story read to him.
"Ok..," Sheena sighed out and habitually began combing her fingers through his soft, red hair. "What did you have in mind?"
"How about, Angel?" Zelos asked offhandedly, though he had obviously had some previous thought on the question.
"What?" Sheena automatically questioned. For one thing, she didn't think she heard him right due to the way he rattled it off, and secondly, she hadn't a clue what he was getting at even if she did understand him.
"For a name," Zelos explained simply. "If we have a daughter, I want to name her Angel."
For a time, Sheena merely blinked in contemplation. He sure skipped ahead, since when did they decide they were having a daughter? She withheld an outward sigh of surrender. They were only just throwing ideas around after all, none of it really meant anything, or so she told herself. "That's a silly name," she managed through a chuckle.
"Alright then, I'll pick her casual name and you pick her secret ninja name," Zelos mended, and gave his head a thin tilt for a hint of eye contact. "Sound fair?"
"Even so," Sheena said, her face skeptical and somewhat amused. "It's still a silly name, Zelos."
"Well, if it's so silly, then what name would you pick?" he wondered with casual tone and a wrist's flick of indifference. He wasn't offended nor was he annoyed by the debate. He seemed completely at ease with the setting, which should have been no surprise to anyone, although under the circumstances, he was way too comfortable, especially since Sheena was supposed to be on guard duty.
Remembering just that, she took a quick, wary glance around and only when Zelos again prompted her did she finally answer. "Well I don't know, I'd have to think about it for a while, I guess."
Moments later and not much had changed. Zelos had shifted slightly, deciding to give her some time to think, and he had come to a realization that she really wasn't very good at this game... Finally, he grew bored of waiting, regardless of the attention he was getting, and sat upright to put another question to her. "So, what about boy names then?"
Once more, Sheena blinked at him in consideration, a stern look coming over her. "No. I'm not giving you a boy," she said, waving her hand in front of him in a stubborn manner. "I refuse."
It was the red head's turn to blink, only his version was much more befuddled. "What!? How can you refuse something like that?"
"Don't ask, just accept it."
"Wh-? But-, you can't- ugh-" Zelos eventually huffed and, after folding his arms, set in for a pout. A pout that never seemed to work even to this day, though for the oddest reason, he had yet to resign the method completely.
Hoping to change the subject, and again, remembering her duties, Sheena took another good look around. It was a relatively quiet evening, though even with the ocean a fair ways off, the hiss of the waves could still be heard, as well as the erratic crackling of the main campfire. Everything seemed to be in order, but there was still that nagging feeling that something was missing. He was white, with four legs, and at times, demanded just as much attention as her husband. "Hey, where's Verus?"
"Hm?" was the man's distracted response. Apparently he had formed a mild interest in plucking random blades of grass among his sulking. He shrugged. "Heck if I know, he's probably off hunting. And I doubt he likes being around all these people."
"Maybe, but he hasn't brought anything back for a long time..."
"Heh, do you think he's losing his touch? He's probably just too fat to catch anything," Zelos mentioned and added in a grumbling, "as much food as he gets..."
The ninja didn't reply, instead she absently continued wondering where her pet could be, and whether or not the former chief was still as spry as some say. But for the second time, Zelos tore down her thought pattern, like a sudden obstruction on the path in front of her. Only after having him repeat himself did she comprehend his words.
"We could do it, you know."
"And what's that?" Just what was he getting at now? Sheena withheld a sigh and didn't even bother moving her head to get a better look at him.
"You and me, we'd make good parents. Even if we are traveling all the time, who cares? We'd still do ten times better than my parents, and look how well I turned out!" he exclaimed proudly, as though his entire sentence had been authentic and true.
"Indeed," Sheena replied dryly with a raised brow of sarcasm before waving the thought off. "At any rate, you're overestimating us; I don't know the first thing about babies."
"But you'll learn!" Zelos insisted. "We both will."
"'Will?'" Sheena quizzed. "Don't say it like it's already been decided."
"But Sheenaaa-"
Sheena let out a growl; annoyance seemed like such a customary reaction anymore. "Well, alright, maybe-"
"Booyah-!" Zelos yipped and dove in for a hug, only to be thwarted by Sheena's hand.
"I said 'maybe'! That doesn't mean yes or no yet." The ninja wagged a finger in front of him for emphasis, though naturally it did not have the effect she hoped for, nor did she expect it to have; she knew him too well for it to be expected.
"That's enough, Sheena said maybe!" Zelos whined happily and succeeded this time in gaining access for his hug. "Maybes can always be persuaded."
"P-pardon me, er Chosen?" spoke up a guard timidly from behind them. The soldier's initial nerves were not merely derived from the scene he suddenly found himself before, but rather, from not knowing how to regard Sheena respectfully besides "Ma'am" and that in itself sounded odd, but likewise he couldn't think of anything else to refer to Zelos as other than 'Chosen'. So in the end he settled for simply getting their attention and hoped things worked themselves out from there.
Zelos looked over his shoulder and gave a meager sigh. Most of the soldiers up till now had had similar hitches with the dividing line between informality and formality, so much so that neither Sheena nor Zelos could mend the problem with any form of ease. And it had come to a point that it just made very little difference to them. "Looks like your relief is here. 'Bout time, I'm beat," he managed through a yawn and stretched as he stood.
Sheena nodded and stood up as well before heading off towards camp without a word but came to a halt when Zelos was not at her heels and automatically caused her to pause mid stride.
Indeed, before walking off, Zelos had stopped to chat idly with the newly appointed sentry. "Hey thanks for taking over, what's your name again?" he questioned and scratched his head in a forgetful manner, shaking the soldier's hand with the other. In return the soldier could only stammer. It wasn't everyday that the Chosen, or rather, one of the world's saviors, spoke to you.
"Zelos, stop intimidating the guy," Sheena shot over her shoulder, "he has a job to do."
"Fine, fine." Zelos rolled his eyes and followed after the woman obediently, but not before patting the new sentry's shoulder encouragingly. "Later friend, oh and if you happen to see a white mutt- er I mean wolf, let us know?"
The guard nodded his head and stuttered a confirmation as Zelos took off soon after in order to catch up with his wife. "Oy Sheena, what makes me so intimidating?" he wanted to know, his face and voice genuinely concerned over the matter as though it were a bad thing. "I was just tryin' to be friendly. Maybe then they'd stop using that lousy title."
"If it bothers you so much, then why don't you just mention it to the king? He could do something about it."
"Nah," Zelos said with a flick of a wrist. "That would just put more stress on the soldiers; they have enough to worry about."
"Then I have no sympathy for you," Sheena replied coldly and was further unresponsive in regards to his frown.
"Love you too," he grumbled darkly, promptly changing the subject and his demeanor. "Oh and I told him to keep an eye out for Verus by the way. I know you're worried about him."
As they walked to their temporary quarters, Sheena nodded with a downward, dismal gaze, but her expression brightened somewhat when she spoke. "Yeah, but I know he can handle himself."
Little did she know that she wouldn't see him for another week...
--
Sheena smiled in her sleep, her fingers absently stroking the tiny puff ball in her hands, and for a moment, she was taken back to the time when Verus was a puppy, to when she had first found him. The vague thought in itself did not make much sense, but when one is half asleep, logical thought and a tangible memory is often a thing nonexistent.
As the pup licked her hand, Sheena slowly woke from her slumber, she also slowly began to realize that the pup had the same markings as Verus, the same white as Verus, but it was black where the blue should be, and he- he was a she...
"WHO THE HELL DID THIS TO MY WOLF!?"
Zelos woke with a start, he looked around frantically, scrambling and feeling about for his sword in a mess of gibberish, followed by a flurry of disarray and shouting. Thank goodness there was no desk or similarly hard surface around, for his head would have no doubt made contact with it among the madness. "Hot bitches, Sheena!" he swore, holding his head with both hands to try and calm himself. "Are you trying to put me into cardiac arrest?"
Sheena held the tiny animal up and thrust it to a mere foot from his face. "Look what someone did to Verus!" She suddenly took on a dark look as she muttered her suspicions, "I bet it was Raine, she was always threatening to experiment on Corrine..."
"Sheena, get a hold of yourself already!" Zelos demanded, giving her shoulders a steady shake. "That's not Verus."
As if to reiterate the statement, Verus whined from the threshold of their tent, his tail wagging as though he had enjoyed the entire display. "This is exactly why I missed you two." When both Zelos and Sheena shot him wide eyed stares, Verus came forward and licked the cub in the ninja's hands.
"Oh, so that's why he's been gone all week," Zelos quipped through a knowing smirk, and added in a grumbling, "the lucky stud."
With another whine and a final lick, Verus bolted out through the tent flap, expecting them to follow. "He must want to show us the rest of them," Sheena deduced with rising anticipation as she began her scramble to get dressed. "Come on Zelos!"
Zelos moaned tiredly. The last thing he wanted was more of those little monsters running around. He looked at her with all the seriousness he could muster. "Sheena. No. You can't keep them this time. "
She didn't reply, but merely paused in her dressing to send him a sad face. It usually worked, she was surprised but undaunted when it didn't.
"Oy, I said 'no'."
"But Zelos-"
"No means no."
Sheena shrugged on her gi and waved her hand indifferently. "Eh, it's not like I ever listen to anyone anyway."
Zelos stomped his foot, a rather childish display when coupled with his whining tone. "But I'm you're husband!"
Sheena shot him a side glance as she headed outside, answering simply, "then be a good husband and help me."
"Ugh, miserable animals- good for nothin' monsters," Zelos muttered to himself as he grabbed the remainder of his clothing as well, throwing them on carelessly as he trudged after his wife.
--
"I don't care what you say, he chose a creepy bitch," Zelos grumbled, his arms crossed irritably as he sat on the ground near his companion.
"Zelos!" Sheena growled, switching her attention to him when it had formerly been on the five wolf cubs romping around at play in front of them. Every now and then Verus would nudge them with his snout, or paw at them. He was obviously ignoring the man's comments, a technique Sheena sorely wished she could employ at present.
"What? It's the truth, besides," he said, his eyes narrowed at the swarthy female wolf keeping her distance. "Black is evil." Zelos shivered as the dark animal seemed to peer straight through his soul.
Sheena glanced up at her own, equally dark bangs, then aimed a glare at him. "Gee... Thanks."
Nervous laughter followed on his part. "Heh, well I don't call you a banshee for nothing, right?"
Sheena slowly drew her annoyed glare away from him and back to the adorable balls of fluff on the ground, all of them a mix of black and white.
An unspoken request had been issued from the moment they arrived at the wolf's den, and although she knew Zelos was well aware of it, she couldn't help but voice the matter upon holding up two of the cubs in comparison. "I can't pick just one..."
Zelos naturally had a prepared objection on his tongue, but with the look on her face, his eyes wavered in a weakening and he aimed a strict finger at her, charging her sternly, "only on one condition."
"What is it?" Sheena asked, blinking as though there had been a hope unknown to her.
"If we have a daughter, I get to name her Angel."
Sheena scowled, that name really didn't agree with her, but it was kind of cute in a way... Maybe it would grow on her. She nodded, but was suddenly reminded of an important matter that she had put off for a few days.
"Eh, actually Zelos," Sheena started hesitantly and held up her bare wrist, the one that had long since been accompanied by a charm. "I think when would be a better term..."
For nigh an entire moment Zelos stared blankly at her arm, wondering what implication she could possibly be making, then with a sudden shock of recollection, a shout of surprise, and a cry of delight, he hugged her fiercely.
Obviously overjoyed by the news, Zelos went on ranting in half gibberish, and Sheena didn't bother to interrupt him. She wanted to enjoy this moment, for the days and weeks to come entailed trial and tension that she did not relish in thought of.
--
AN: (smacks forehead) This one didn't start out embarrassing, but it certainly ended that way! Ugh and NO, at this point and time I refuse to acknowledge EtU! Anyway, on another note, Verus has puppies! Hurray! It's time for a puppy shower! (throws confetti) Forget baby showers, puppy showers are way more fun! If you don't review, then you're not invited!:P Well, ok you're invited, but you don't get cookies!