The Best of Things
Post 6
****
Together the two had their scarce belongings packed and headed out on foot towards the nearest town.
The tactician was grateful to be off the ground for a night as he collapsed into the inn's bed. The mattress was under stuffed, and the blankets moth-eaten, but it was heaven for the two exhausted travelers. Ike set their belongings down and joined the archsage.
"This is great," he mumbled, too tired to move another inch.
The town had been farther off than either expected, and they made it to the inn very late at night. They would have stopped to camp, but the town was in sight at the bottom of the hill, and neither one wanted to spend another night in the dirt. They had walked an additional two miles.
Each didn't have the strength to keep open their eyes any longer, and they both fell right into a cold sleep. Ike snoring particularly loud.
****
The next morning the mercenary and his tactician were off again, with no particular plan in mind, other exploring around the desert's southern border. Tellius was located on the other side of the barren land, and the two had no clue what they would find outside of it. So far, it seemed safe, and had brought some unexpected events, which turned out to be in favor of both travelers.
As they walked along the sandy plateau, Soren's crimsons eyes caught flashes of black in the distance.
"A fight," he informed Ike before the mercenary could ask. "Between Beorc and Laguz. They appear to be Beast Laguz from this distance. Perhaps Cats by the way they're jumping around. Shall we get a closer look or move on?"
Soren knew the man's answer by the way he was rushing to the cliff's edge.
As they drew closer, they heard the beorc's calling, "Get bet 'ya filthy vermin, or we'll kill the lot of ya!"
An unchanged Laguz called back, "This is our territory, and always has been! Be gone!" and changed into a large fox. He flipped up in the air and came down on the Beorc's head, breaking his neck.
Soren turned to his commander. "Well, who's side are we on?" he asked.
"We take the Laguz side of course. They are one's being pushed out of their home. Fuck the beorc," the commander insisted, pulling out Ragnell, and starting towards the fight with a dead sprint.
Soren chased after him, concerned for the bluenette's safety.
The damn fool! He should no better than to rush headlong into battle without consulting me first!
He caught up just as Ike was taking a swing at the nearest human, knocking him to the ground. He easily countered the second, while the spell caster chanted a gust of wind that cut down a fighter that had attempted to flank the commander. Within a few minutes time, it was only Ike, Soren, and the Laguz left standing.
The Fox shifted back to his human form.
Ike stood breathing heavily, and placed Ragnell back into its sheath. His eyes then shifted to the Fox Laguz.
"I didn't mean to interfere with your fight. I just saw how easily they were taking over, and I wanted to lend a nice helping hand. I've had to fight plenty of Beorc in my time."
The lead Fox nodded. "Help's always appreciated with those scum... It's weird to see a beorc with manners."
Soren chuckled. "He gets that a lot."
"Well, again, thanks for your help... Are you planning on crossing through our canyon?"
"We planned on it," the bluenette stated, standing by his friend.
"I see. Well, can you give me your name, so I can inform the rest of my tribe to give you safe passage?"
"That would be great, thank you," Ike said.
"His name is Ike and I am Soren," the tactician stated.
The Fox Laguz nodded and sent the word.
Ike and Soren made their way through the canyon without difficulty. "They were quite interesting, I've never seen laguz like them before," the commander commented.
"Odds are we'll see a lot of interesting things in our travels," the spell caster replied. "I'm keeping a journal of our travels, and I'll be sure to record this particular encounter for future reference."
The bluenette frowned. "You never mentioned this journal to me before."
"I only recently started it. I got the idea once we crossed the desert, so feel free to humor me and report anything special that you notice."
Ike snatched up the archsage and began digging around in his robes.
"Ike!" the youth scolded. "Put me down! What are you doing?!"
"I want to see this journal of yours," he mumbled, before pulling out a wind tome, only to replace it and continue his rummaging.
"Ike! Please!"
"Found it!" he called triumphantly, and flipped it open to a random page. "Uhhh..."
The spell caster snatched the book away. "Shall we continue?"
"I didn't know that you wrote poetry, Soren... Nor did I know that my hair rippled like the waves of Gallia's famed beaches."
"SHUT UP!"
"Alright, alright. Just don't knock me off the canyon's ledge with wind." Ike said a smug look on his face. He was ultimately surprised at Soren's journal, but none the less should have known the boy would write something to that effect.
The bluenette handed the book back, which the archsage took immediately stuffing deeper into his robes pockets, his hands at his sides now.
"Are you embarrassed?" Ike asked.
"Yes," the spell caster replied curtly, a pout prominent in his features. The bluenette laughed harder.
"Don't be; I'm flattered," he said, placing an arm around his tactician.
Soren hummed and kept walking. It was impossible for him to be put out with his commander for any extended amount of time, and was soon leaning against the larger man affectionately.
"You should publish it," Ike joked.
The spell caster growled.