Fire and Ice

Chapter 7

Surprising Visit

It was about a twelve day trip but finally they had arrived in Crimea. To Marth's surprise it was still as beautiful as he remembered. He looked over at Ike who was explaining about how there was once a point where it wasn't so beautiful. The prince listened as the mercenary explained about the plea of the princess, about how he witnessed his father get killed by the Black Knight, and him taking over the company. Marth just listened contently to Ike's story. In his mind Ike had been through a lot…to him Ike was truly a hero.

"The reconstruction process wasn't easy either," explained Ike after finishing his story. "But I guess all our hard work paid off in the end."

"Amazing," Marth responded. He thought it was amazing how he and Ike have been through the same. The prince remembered when his father was killed and his sister kidnapped. The memory became more painful when he remembered that he was banished. Marth remained still being lost in thought.

"Marth?" questioned Ike trying to snap his lover out of his trance. "Marth! We're here." He chuckled slightly when Marth snapped out of it.

The prince looked ahead and saw the entrance saw two men. Both men were pretty tall. The one clad in heavy blue armor was slightly taller and looked a bit surprised to see them both, and the other who wore the garb and armor of a sniper and had long red hair gave a slight glare at Ike. The taller blonde haired man approached Marth.

"What brings you to the camp of the Greil Mercenaries?" he asked holding his hand out as if he wanted to help Marth off his horse. Marth and Ike simply looked at each other and started laughing. The blue armored man was awfully confused.

The great sword-wielder looked at the two men sternly. "Shinon, Gatrie…inform Titania that the Prince of Altea and I have arrived."

Shinon and Gatrie looked at each other with bewilderment. Did they just hear Ike correctly? The red head was a bit shocked to see that Ike would visit along with a noble and the armor clad warrior was embarrassed that he hit on the prince. The two dashed inside to go get their acting commander, Titania.

The blonde came back with company. The woman had long, fiery, red hair tied back in a long braid; also she was clad in silver armor. She crossed her arms and had a smirk planted on her face. "So Ike…you're back are you."

Ike responded with a smirk of his own. "Just visiting."

"Oh? So this 'Brawl' or whatever you were invited to isn't over?" questioned the red-headed woman. It was then something had hit her. "You know…you should go see Mist. She's been awfully worried about you."

Ike nodded getting off his horse. He grabbed the reins and walked the horse inside. His lover was right perhaps a short time away from the Brawl was just what he needed. A small grin showed on Ike's face at the thought of being away from the other brawlers.

After watching Ike leave Titania turned her attentions to the noble. In actuality she was surprised to see that Ike had brought a noble with him let alone a prince. Just what exactly was Ike up to?

Marth smiled sheepishly. The young prince really didn't know what to say. He hadn't really been around mercenaries before. He simply continued to smile the way he was before the red head finally broke the silence.

"So…you're the prince of Altea?" asked Titania.

Marth nodded. "Yes. I'm also in the Brawl along with Ike."

Titania was still confused about what the Brawl was. She knew that Ike had left because of this event but it was never really explained to her and the rest of the Greil Mercenaries what it was. But she thought she'd leave that question for another time Marth and Ike were probably exhausted from their trip.

"Excuse me." Marth said then politely bowing and grabbing his horse's reigns leading it inside and into the stable. The prince chuckled to himself. These mercenaries were nothing like how they were described to him. Even though he had just met three of them (discluding Ike) they had all come off as polite and well mannered. Okay…so that one guy tried to hit on him but people did often mistake Marth for a female. He brought the horse into the stable when the sound of humming had caught his attention.

He looked and saw a small girl brushing the mane on one of the horses. She was the one that was humming. To Marth she was humming such a lovely tune at that. It sounded almost like a lullaby. A sound that Marth's horse made seemed to catch the girl's attention. She had light brown hair and sapphire blue eyes similar to—"Are you Mist?" asked the prince.

The young girl smiled; she had such a warm smile at that. She nodded her head. "Yes I am…but I'm afraid I've never met you." She answered.

Once more Marth politely bowed. "Oh, my name is Marth, the prince of Altea. I'm an acquaintance of your older brother, Ike."

Mist's eyes seemed to have lit up upon hearing Ike's name. "Really and how is he?"

The young prince smiled back and looked towards the stable door. He gave a small chuckle for a moment. "He's right outside you should ask him for yourself. He has missed you a lot. I saw him when I was coming into the stable…I believe he was talking to a muscular green haired man."

The healer's response was a giggle and she ran out of the barn excitedly. To Marth she was everything Ike had described. She seemed kind and her voice carried a heavenly tune. The lithe swordsman took a deep breath and stretched his arms above his head. He was going to like this small vacation. It also was going to relieve some stress the Brawl had been creating for him and Ike. He walked out of the stable to go and meet up with Ike.

That night Marth got the chance to share a feast with Ike and the rest of the company. He had fun getting to know everyone from Titania to even Soren. After all the fun was over it was time to call it a night.

Lying on Ike's bead Marth stretched his arms above his head and sighed happily. He let out a giggle when Ike laid down right next to him. The prince trailed his hand down the mercenary's arm and grabbed his hand. "Tonight was nice," Was the only thing that Marth could say at the moment.

The older swordsman just smiled and ran his hand through Marth teal blue hair and stole the hair band off his head. The action was soon followed by a chuckle and Ike playfully sticking out his tongue.

The prince had other plans. He took advantage of the moment and pounced onto Ike. Wasting no time he pressed his soft lips against Ike's dry ones. As he massaged the mercenary's lips with his own the kiss became more intimate and it turned into their tongues battling for dominance. Ike concentrated on winning but to his surprise he was losing the battle. He couldn't believe it! He began to weaken and then he surrendered. It was time for Marth to now explore his moist cavern. Ike let out a soft moan. The only thing he could do was wrap his arms around the lithe swordsman's waist and hold him closer. The two finally pulled away, gasping for air.

The two lovers pressed their foreheads together. "Who are you and what have you done to Marth?" asked Ike jokingly. If being far away from the stadium turned Marth on this much he'd get away more often. Giggling, the prince got off the older swordsman and lied back down next to him.

Ike wrapped his arm around Marth's waist and brought him closer. He then proceeded to pull the blanket over the two of them. "I think this was the perfect idea," said Ike. "I've never seen you so happy before. Is it because you don't have to think of the Brawl?"

"Perhaps…" started Marth with a smirk planted on his face. Though there was a fire going Marth still snuggled closer to Ike for warmth. After all winter was slowly approaching.

Ike rested Marth's head under his chin and finally placed his lover's hair band on the side table. "And another thing…you've never been this turned on before. What is it about Crimea turns you on so much?"

"Are you sure it's Crimea…or is it you?" asked Marth closing his eyes. He rested his head into Ike's chest listening to his heartbeat.

The mercenary's cheeks turned beet red upon hearing Marth's comment. He took his hand and proceeded to rub his prince's back with care. Ike smiled and was also glad that he had Marth all to himself. There were no other nosy, gossiping Brawlers to worry about, there were no Brawl matches to about, there was nothing to worry about. On the other hand there was the Greil Mercenaries to worry about but Ike knew they knew better than to peek on their commander and his lover. All there was was just him and Marth and nothing else. Ike took notice that his lover had fallen asleep. He kissed him softly on the forehead and closed his eyes himself. He fell asleep with Marth in his arms.

Ike awoke the next morning to see he was one prince short. Suddenly panic was painted on Ike's face. Where did Marth go? He quickly got dressed and headed out the room not bothering with his plate, sword, or headband. He was relieved when he saw Marth just staring off into the distance. He approached his lover. "Do you like it?" he asked.

"Not quite the ocean view we have at the stadium but it's just as beautiful. I've never seen the countryside in the morning. All I've ever seen is the castle…I'm glad to have seen something different for once. Ike…I'm more than just happy. I just can't describe it," said Marth. He turned to Ike and a smile was planted on his face. It was a warmer smile that what he usually shows when at the stadium. "When we get back to the stadium…I'm never going to forget this."

Ike scratched the back of his head embarrassed. Why did he think the prince was kidnapped? That's when the mercenary knew he was just acting paranoid. "You know Marth…when I didn't see you in bed I thought you had been kidnapped. I guess I'm just used to being up before you."

Marth laughed. He couldn't believe Ike actually thought he was kidnapped. "My love, you're just paranoid. I may be a prince but as you've seen in the Brawl…I can perfectly defend myself." The prince grabbed his sword which was mounted on his side to show Ike he had nothing to worry about. He kissed his lover's cheek that was red with embarrassment. "This is just one of those things that we're going to have to get by."

That morning Ike had given Marth a tour of the base. He showed Marth everything from the weapons storage, to the war room, and to the living quarters of the others. To the prince's surprise a mercenary base was so similar to a castle. His castle also had the same types of rooms. After the tour Marth spent his time getting to know the other mercenaries.

That afternoon Mist, Rhys, and Oscar watched as Mia and Marth shared a sparing match. The prince was impressed with the young woman's swordsmanship. He had never faced someone quite as fast as him. Back and forth their match waged and Mia was starting to corner the young prince. When the match had ended Mia had beaten the prince.

The purple haired woman helped Marth up from the ground. "Oh, your highness…you are out of practice."

Marth gladly accepted Mia's help and brushed himself off and readjusted his hair band. "I thank you for your honesty, Miss Mia. I'm not used to fighting a swordsman equal in speed. It was a great match!"

Rhys was healing some of the cuts Marth had gotten from the match when Ike had approached. The healer smiled at Ike sheepishly wondering what he was going to do. He clenched his eyes tight and prepared to be yelled at. He then looked up only to see Ike smiling.

"Marth…you are rusty." He commented; the only response he got from the prince was a smile and a scratch to the back of the head.

"We'll just leave you two alone," said Mia smiling. Rhys opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the purple haired woman dragging him and Oscar away and Mist closely behind.

Ike and Marth turned back to each other and simply started laughing. The two lovers laughed for a two good minutes before finally calming down. Now it turned into them gazing deeply into each others eyes. It broke with Ike sticking out his tongue playfully at Marth. With that Ike snatched Marth's hair band right off his head.

"Ike!" cried Marth. He reached for it to try and get it back but Ike simply moved away from Marth. When the prince reached for it the mercenary moved out of the way again. Soon the constant reaching for it game became the game where Marth chased Ike all around the base. Every time they passed a member of the company had a good laugh at their antics. By the end of the day Marth got back his hair band and got back at Ike by stealing his headband.

For the next two weeks Marth got to know the members of the Greil Mercenaries. But to the prince's sadness those two weeks passed by so fast and soon it became time for him and Ike to leave. It saddened the two of them to leave but they knew the company was in good hands. With the good byes said Marth and Ike had to leave.

Now that the small vacation was finished it was time to put their minds back on the Brawl while still loving each other but still they were like fire and ice. Ike had trouble melting Marth ice…and at the same time Marth couldn't calm Ike's fire.

Yeah...I rushed the last part of this chapter. I thought it was starting to take too long. I'll do better next chapter.