Theme 36: Captured Princess
Disclaimer: Not mine. Please don't sue, I am poor.
Characters/Setting: FE9, Leanne, Naesala, Izuka, Nealuchi
Leanne awoke and her surroundings were absolutely filthy, a jump down from the airy cleanliness of Castle Phoenicis. Also, for some strange reason, there was a spinning wheel nestled in a pile of straw resting next to her. She glanced out of the single window of her cell, long golden hair falling outside the tall tower.
"Is she awake yet?" a thin and shrill voice asked eagerly from outside her cell.
A smoother voice replied, "I don't think so. She's quite the sleeping beauty."
The hatch on the cell door slid open and a pair of watery blue eyes glanced at her form gazing out the window. The door squealed open on its rusty hinges, and she quickly pulled her head and hair back from the window to face the newcomer and her cell's guard. The guard seemed familiar somehow…
A cackle escaped from the unfamiliar man's sneering mouth, revealing crooked yellow teeth. "What have we here?" the unsightly hunchback screeched.
Leanne discovered that she could not remove her eyes from the unpleasant wart on the apparition's nose. It was enormous. Not to mention the three short, stiff hairs sprouting from it. Ugh. "Who are you?" she questioned in the old tongue.
"Oh, never you mind, dearie. A gift for you." The ghoul pulled out a shiny red apple from his dusty robes and offered it to her. The light danced off the skin of the apple in a rather entrancing way. "I'll be on my way now, lots of potions to brew, have to test my new invention and see if those dratted creatures have responded yet…" Izuka tottered off, muttering to himself as always.
Leanne examined the apple. It was oddly appealing, and she was fairly hungry. Delicately, she raised the fruit to her mouth—
The guard burst in, armor gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight. "Don't eat it!" he ordered in heavily accented ancient language, snatching it from her fingers and throwing it out of the window. "It's poisoned," he explained, voice striking a familiar chord in Leanne's memory.
"Who are you?" Leanne asked curiously, almost certain that she already knew the answer.
"I'll give you three guesses," the armored man replied, voice loaded with sarcasm.
Leanne smiled teasingly. "Is your name…Tibarn?"
Her savior scoffed, annoyance audible in his impatient sigh. "Try again, princess."
"Janaff?"
"You know, I'm really going to start to reconsider rescuing you if you keep confusing me with those oafs."
"Naesala?"
The raven pulled off his disguise. "You knew it was me all along, didn't you?"
The princess giggled and nodded happily. "Are we going to get out of here?"
The prince swept the princess off her feet, leaping out of the window. He let them fall through the air for a little longer than necessary just to make the princess shriek and cling to him tightly. Then, he opened glossy black wings, caught a draft and flew into the sunset.
"Wait, nestling!" Nealuchi called, ancient wings flapping desperately to catch up. "Leanne dropped her slipper!" The old raven brandished it in Naesala's face. Leave it to Nealuchi to ruin the perfect moment...
Sighing heavily, Naesala landed just long enough to slide the slipper back onto Leanne's foot (perfect fit, of course) before flying off into the sunset. Again.
The two lived happily ever after.