Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or the poem.
Nowi
Written by: InvaderSunshine
Edited by: vaguekiwi
Our games carried on through the night. We laughed and played until the sun crept over the horizon. We found ourselves in the stables, attempting to rest our weary eyes as the sun bleared in through the slats in the wood.
Cordelia had stopped by at the crack of dawn, scowling at us all the while. It was obvious she thought our antics irresponsible, and I guess there was some truth to that… But we were having so much fun! Surely fun couldn't be a crime. Even in the midst of war. Especially in the midst of war.
Vaike and I teetered around the barracks, running into walls and trying our best not to laugh at one another's misfortune. We tried not to wake anybody up, but we weren't always successful keeping our traps shut.
Thank Naga it was only Donnell. Maribelle would have sewn our mouths shut with the thread she keeps on hand, and I'm pretty sure Tharja would've cursed Vaike until he cowered and begged for mercy.
Good ol' Donnell just suggested we go outside to avoid 'waking sleeping dragons'. I thought he was being funny, but apparently he was so tired he couldn't think straight. I was the only dragon in this establishment. For the time being, nobody else had the right to steal my title.
After being hushed by Donnell, we crept off to the stables to find morning cresting over Ferox. We no longer had much chance at sleep.
It was all Vaike's fault. He was being too much fun.
I told him that, but he just laughed. He said that of course he was too much fun. He was the Vaike.
So we were forced to shut out the impairing sunlight and try to sleep a few hours in the scratchy hay. Obviously, it wasn't working all that well.
"You know," I mumbled from my place in the hay. I was bundled in a mountain of the stuff. There was so much I thought it might have been aiming to drown me. I made a lazy effort to scratch my back, only succeeding in triggering another unwelcome itch. "Maybe we should have slept in that pile of dirt over there."
Vaike burst into laughter. "Nowi, that's a pile of dung!"
I frowned. "No, really! From my experience, dirt is much more comfortable than hay. It's like a soft, cushy pillow. Come on. Let's try!"
I tried to sit up, only succeeding in making myself sink further. Vaike tried to grab me, but he was already neck deep in the stuff, so gave up when he realized I wasn't going to drown myself. I was only going to die by the prickling bites of my own itches.
We ended up laughed some more.
When Vaike was able to speak again, he was still on the verge of another laughing fit. "And uh, Nowi… Ya know that stuff over there's not dirt, right…? Don't go sleepin' in it!"
He burst into laughter again, at my expense.
"Eww…!" I whined as I stared at the mound in horror. That stuff should not have been in the stable.
When I was able, I would speak to Robin about this. The amount of times I'd used a stable as refuge was many. I wouldn't want another naive manakete going and finding that her new bed was a pile of horse manure. While it was unlikely another manakete would stop by for a visit, I had enough sense to spare anyone the horror.
We sat for a moment in silence and made a futile effort to sleep. Vaike was still trying to stifle his laughter, the sun was threatening to fry our eyeballs out, we were becoming increasingly aware of the smell of horse droppings, and I was pretty sure Sumia's Pegasus was giving me the stinkeye. I was beginning to think it was going to burst through its stall, screw the rules and stab me right through the forehead with its little twinkly horn.
Which would've been problematic.
"Vaike, I don't think we're going to get any sleep." I said.
"Alright," he complied, and made a very sad attempt at getting up. "But ya need to know Frederick said he'd start trainin' recruits this morning. You should be extra careful..."
You should probably know that the stable housed every horse owned by the Shepherds. There was Cordelia's peaceful beast, Stahl's daunting mare, Sully's spirit animal, Sumia's little angel in disguise, and last but not least, Frederick's dutiful steed.
Frederick's dutiful steed wasn't exactly so dutiful to us. Unknowingly, the horse had led Frederick directly to us. He appeared from around the corner like a message from the gods. His smile gleamed just as much as the armour he donned. The message was clear.
"You jinxed it."
I had never seen Vaike as horrified as he was on that day, though I didn't completely understand why he was so scared of a little exercise. The guy could obviously do a few pushups. I didn't understand how doing it could be any trouble for him.
"What's this about training?" Frederick beamed, the clinking of his armour signaling our impending doom. "Are you two looking forward to bettering yourselves through Frederick's fanatical fitness hour? I'm glad to see our men are taking their training seriously."
Vaike let out a string of awkward laughter. "No, no. I trained early this morning."
"Wow, Vaike," I remarked, pouting at his dishonesty. There was no shame in playing a game, even if it was widely regarded to be for children. "No you weren't. We were playing Headless Soldier, remember?"
"Nowi…!" Vaike exclaimed, dismayed.
I shrugged my shoulders. "What? There's no shame in having a bit of fun every once in awhile."
"Trying to get out of training, are we?" Frederick inferred, much more wisely than I had.
Oh.
Oops.
It seemed as though I had completely misunderstood the reason for Vaike's lie. Sometimes I wondered if I was getting senile with old age, despite looking like a ten year old.
"Heheheh… Sorry, Vaike." I giggled.
He sighed deeply. "It's alright."
"I assume you two will be partaking in training today…?" Frederick asked, letting the question hang.
"Uh-" Vaike started, before getting cut off by yours truly.
"Vaike got injured. He should probably rest for a couple of days… Maybe get some sleep." I offered, and to my credit my words held some truth to them. Vaike was recently injured, and I had told Maribelle I'd look out for him. I didn't think he should go through "Frederick's fanatical fitness hour" while recovering.
"Oh, so it will be just you this morning, Nowi," Frederick inferred, continuing to beam at us like we hadn't just blatantly showed disinterest in training. "It will be just you, Gaius, and Tharja if we can find her. Everybody else went earlier."
"Wait," I stressed. I was quite surprised to hear that the very hungover Gaius would be joining me in running laps. "He's not still sick is he?"
Vaike looked to the ceiling pensively. "Well… He was alive last I saw him."
"Last you saw him, he was throwing up in Donnell's pot." I retorted.
"True, true…" he confirmed, before turning his attention back to the ever-patient Frederick. "So he's not dyin' any more…?"
Frederick gave a frown. "He can stand. A Shepherd must be ready for any challenge."
And then I came to a sort of understanding. Whatever "Frederick's fanatical fitness hour" was, it probably involved coughing up a half-collapsed lung, forcing yourself to swallow it, and repeating the process about a dozen times until you finally died and the suffering came to an end.
It seemed I had gotten myself into a rather sticky situation, and it didn't look like I would be able to talk my way out of it. (As if that had ever worked before…) So I let myself hope that draconic resilience would be on my side, because hope was all I had.
"Well, we had best get started." Frederick decided.
On cue, I rolled out of the hay (with a bit of help from Vaike and Frederick, I was really buried in the stuff.)
"I'll see you later, Vaike!" I chirped, waving as if I was going on a long trip across the continent. Frederick pulled me along by the arm, making me drag my feet as I made every effort to slow my possible demise.
Vaike waved back, though less vibrantly. "See ya, Nowi! At lunch?"
"You betcha!" I replied, gripping the arch of the door in an attempt to stall. Frederick sure had a tight grip. I had no choice but to let go of the frame and follow Frederick to wherever he wanted to go.
It turned out to be the training grounds, Gaius and, surprisingly, Tharja were already milling about when we arrived. Gaius sat on a bench with his head between his knees, Tharja stood a few feet away, glaring at the ground as if it was the cause for all her troubles. They didn't appear to be talking, though I suppose it was to be expected. Tharja was never the most sociable person, as much as I willed her to be.
Frederick let go of my arm to examine his schedule, making sure to read over every word on the worn parchment. In acknowledgment to his dutiful attitude, I assumed it was to make sure everything was perfect and he was serving his lord in an optimal fashion.
"Hey, guys!" I hollered, running over and grabbing Tharja's hand.
Although she muttered darkly under her breath, she did little to stop me. I suppose she thought me young and innocent. Even if as a dark mage, she surely knew of a manakete's lengthy lifespan. Like the night before, Tharja was laying off on the curses out of mercy. It didn't really make sense to me, but I couldn't complain with not being cursed. If being seen in a somewhat childish light would help me avoid getting cursed, I was going to take advantage of it. After all, we were roommates.
"Have you met Tharja?" I asked Gaius, pulling Tharja to sit with me on the bench with him. I sat wedged in the middle, beaming at everyone.
Tharja complied, scowling all the while. I was aware of her reputation as a dark mage, but chose to cast it aside. I suppose being judged all the time on my appearance made me more open-minded on befriending her. Just because other dark mages were scandalously immoral, it didn't mean Tharja was. The way she acted toward me was reason enough for me to trust her.
Besides, what sort of person would I be if I didn't trust an ally? We had fought side by side once before. Watching each other's backs was a sure sign of security in my eyes. It meant loyalty and friendship. I was eager to enforce those bonds. I felt as if it was only right to introduce her to my other new friends.
Gaius wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as I was. He blinked lazily as he looked over at us, still pale from his alcohol-induced sickness. "Hey Kid," He nodded, eyeing the pale girl beside me. "Sunshine. Yes, we've met."
"Oh, so you have met! This is so great. We can all be friends now! How did you meet?" I rambled on, winking at Tharja playfully. "I'll have to introduce you to Vaike next. He's loads of fun."
Gaius didn't respond to my question, choosing instead to cock an eyebrow. "Gods, Kid. You're going to overwhelm Sunshine with all that brightness."
I frowned, childishly pouting at my toes.
"I'm quite alright, I'll have you know," Tharja muttered. She didn't bother to look at us. "To answer your question Nowi, we met when I approached him to ask for his help in getting some of Robin's hair. He said no."
The mage then glowered, scowling more deeply than before. However they had met, something told me it wasn't on the bestest of terms.
That didn't mean I wouldn't try to mend things. I've always been persistent when there's something I want. The friendship of two of my friends was reason enough to make an effort. I could be certain things would improve if I pushed them hard enough.
"That's not very nice, Gaius. You need to help out your allies in need." I chided, waving a finger to emphasize my point. I stuck my bottom lip out to let him know that I was really serious.
I knew what Tharja was doing could be classified as stalking. Believe me, I knew. You see, I was just being stubborn. I wanted things to get off on a good start and Gaius was ruining it! Stupid Gaius and his stupid candy! Couldn't he have just snuck into Robin's room and be done with it!
Maybe I wasn't being reasonable, but at least I had my friends in mind.
Tharja laughed. It was a bit creepy, but I chose to discard that fact and see it as a sign of friendship. "Yes, Nowi. One should always take good care of their allies."
I swear I saw Gaius gulp, but he didn't have time to retort because Frederick marched over. His chiseled smile was gleaming like always, though I couldn't be sure as to why he was so pleased to be coaching a child-like dragon, a hungover thief, and a very unenthusiastic dark mage. Maybe he was eager to train a dragon? I sure didn't know why he would be eager to train the other two, no offense intended.
"Let's start with one hundred pushups," Frederick said. His armour clinked ominously as he approached us, only stopping when he reached the bench. "Then you may do one hundred sit-ups, one hundred jumping jacks, and twenty laps around the training grounds. I hope you stretched. Go!"
We very much wished that we had stretched. While Frederick barked words of encouragement, we began to wonder if what we were doing was even possible, or just some form of cruel and unusual punishment.
Thankfully, Frederick gave in and shortened our workout to half so we could have a more varied workout within the hour. This was because Gaius threw up twice, Tharja was threatening to curse everyone and their mother, and I was screaming that I would morph into a dragon if he didn't let us stop. To put things simply, we were not happy boot campers.
That was how we found ourselves running around the barracks, one hundred jumping jacks and ten laps short. Gaius decided to hide in a bush two laps back, urging us to move on. Even though we wanted to escape too, there was only so much room and Gaius didn't want to share his newfound sanctuary.
Somebody wasn't getting a share of my candy stash when I decided to dig it out.
"I-I'm going to curse that wretched man for this." Tharja huffed, panting beside me, rage evident on her face, her fists clenched tightly.
"I h-have an idea." I heaved, slowing to a stop and pulling Tharja back by the hand. I took a moment to rest, putting my hands on my knees. Tharja copied me "I'll turn into a dragon and we can start running again near the training grounds. In the meantime, you can ride on my back. It'll be fun!"
Tharja gave me one of her rare smiles. It wasn't like one of Vaike's. His were teasing and playful. Tharja's held mischief and deceit.
"I think I will take you up on that offer…" she sighed in relief.
I dug out my dragonstone. "Make sure you cover for me. I'm a terrible liar."
The darkness never left her face. "Oh I will, Nowi. I will…"
I think that was the day I earned her friendship. As we flew under the cover of clouds at a leisurely pace, I think she held me in appreciation. Not only did I provide her with means of escape, it's not every day that someone gets to ride a dragon.
Besides, flying can really give you a new perspective on the world. Through the clouded window above the earth, Tharja saw a world that was foreign to her. She saw the world through my eyes; a world vast and beautiful.
A/N: Hey guys! How was it? Thank you to all who reviewed, followed, gave this story a favourite, or even read! I appreciate it. If anyone is wondering, the next update is in a month. You can view my update schedule on my profile. I'm currently writing chapter 15. Reviews are much appreciated. :)