Let the good times roll as they say. We shared many nights like this, and though many of us changed through the years we still managed to form lasting friendships to the bitter end.
"So that was the day I learned that some wrestlers in Albinea make babies cry for good luck," Balthus explains as he takes another swig of his drink.
Yuri and I managed to get all the Ashen Wolves together about an hour ago for drinks, food, and stories. The food provided from the church consists of fresh vegetables, fruits and some kind of minestrone stew. It's more hearty tasting than what I expected, but certainly not unwelcome. As for the drinking, some of my younger students were more hesitant, but after some coaxing from Yuri to join in on the festivities they agreed. If you can die for your country and not know if you'll die tomorrow, then you might as well live it up is the general idealogy around Fodlan.
Balthus has easily some of the weirdest stories and the most entertaining storyteller with his boisterous attitude and energy. As for everyone else...I can't say I have a house full of poets.
Yuri's tales are overly complex, Lysithea's are cute but lack substance, Felix's and Hapi's method of storytelling is 'Explain everything in 15 words or less', Constance drones on about things most non-nobles find exceedingly boring, Monica had surprisingly little to share and has been relatively quiet when it came to sharing, and my stories tend to be rather dull or gross since most people don't want to hear about a weird sore I found on an old guy one time.
"Very nice Balthus. Say, I think it's time we mixed things up, right?" Yuri suggests as he finishes off an apple.
With each of us seated cross-legged on the ground with a roaring fire in the center of our little encampment we all mutually agree as Yuri stretches his arms and smirks. He raises his cup and looks to me. "Well, professor? Dare is a classic, and I think it'd be interesting. How about it?"
I can feel the strong whiskey working its magic on my circulatory system as I crack a smile. "Sounds like fun."
"If our professor is in than I shall be too," Monica states as she sits up more attentively.
Hapi rolls her eyes and flatly responds, "I think I'm just going to go to bed."
Hapi begins to walk towards her tent, though while a little less nimble than normal, Yuri manages to grab Hapi by the collar of her jacket. "Not so fast Hapi, you aren't skipping out on the fun."
"Fine," Hapi concedes as she begrudgingly sits back down and begins running her finger through the dirt absentmindedly.
Constance claps her hands together with a giddy expression on her face, "Oh how wonderful. I haven't partaken in this game since I was barely a teenager. What splendor shall we uncover about each other I wonder!"
As Constance tries to cover her mouth to conceal her cackling at her own words I look to Yuri and ask, "So what's the rules?"
Yuri retakes his seat by the fire. "Simple. If you can't do the dare, you drink. Once you are asked, then you get to ask someone and so forth. Understood?"
We all nod in unison as Yuri announces, "Great. I'll ask first." He mischievously rubs his chin as he eyes each of us curiously before settling on his first victim. "Balthus. I dare you to give me whatever coin you have in your pockets."
Balthus grins and promptly takes a swig from his large mug and replies, "That's low Yuri. I barely managed to win my side bet anyways!"
I raise an eyebrow. "Side bet?"I can already guess that it had something to do with the battle.
Balthus smirks and consoles me, 'Don't worry big guy, I didn't do anything like throw a fight."
Perhaps me not knowing the inner workings of his habit is for the best for me. Correction; addiction. I shake my head and take a sip from my mug of hard liquor instead of giving the grappling expert a smarmy reply. The liquid warms my chest as I close my eyes and let the heat of the fire warm me up on the outside.
"Alright, alright. My turn…"Balthus muses as he eyes each of us in an exaggerated manner before spouting, "Felix!"
"What?" Our resident moody swordsman quips. He's been relatively quiet most the night as if his mind has been somewhere else. If I had to guess, he's still a bit mad we got third place, and not second. At least that's what I gathered after he argued with Seteth and tried to have a word with Bernadetta, who immediately fled the scene.
"Alright, Felix. I got a dare for you." Balthus snaps his finger and points at the Fraldarius heir. "I dare you to-wait, why are you already drinking?"
Felix finishes a decent-sized gulp and wipes his mouth. "Because I'm not doing whatever ridiculous action you suggest."
"Well, that takes the fun out of it…"Balthus quietly grumbles as he takes a sip from his mug.
I cough to break up the sudden awkward silence, "Felix. Ask someone, and this time take it a little seriously."
Felix huffs but complies, "Fine. How about you," he points to Constance who then points at herself in a questioning manner to which Felix rolls his eyes and nods.
"Yes? And pray tell what is it you would request out of me?" Constance replies in a haughty manner while fixing her somewhat messy bangs.
"I dare you to go steal Sylvain's underclothes."
The camp is silent for a moment before we all burst out laughing, minus Felix who tries to hide his smirk in his mug while taking a drink and Constance whose mouth is hanging open in what seems to be an expression of fear and betrayal. Constance is visibly a bit drunk as she unsteadily clambers to her feet and dramatically points a finger at our blue-haired swordsman, "That's not fair!"
"Then drink. It's what I did," Felix states in his usual curt and decisive tone. The kid doesn't have hardly a fun bone in his body, but at least he is creative.
Yuri looks to the apprehensive Constance and counters, "But would a true person worthy of restoring house Nuvelle really back down from such a meager challenge?"
I wince and smile. Yuri is going for the throat, or more specifically; Constance's pride. I look across the camp to see Lysithea nearing a giggle fit and Monica watching with rapt attention as Constance bemoans her task and complains more to Yuri and Felix, as one incites her to do the dead and the other seems quite indifferent to it all.
After some more jabbering and debating, Constance places her hands on her hips. "Enough! While I do not agree nor condone such frivolous and suggestive behavior, I shall prove to you that it is not outside of my abilities. I shall be back momentarily."
The rest of the Ashen Wolves and I watch in awe as Constance marches off towards the Blue Lions camp in the distance and I can hear Hapi whisper, "Did Coco just agree to steal some boy's pants because she doesn't want to dishonor her nobility?"
"It would seem so," Yuri replies as he cranes his neck to try and get a better angle to see where Constance is through the darkness.
Felix shakes his head and announces, "Now I'm going to bed. Night."
"Good night, Felix. You performed well out there today. Don't beat yourself up about the results too much," I announce to which Felix replies with a nod and heads immediately into his tent.
The rest of us wait in uneasy anticipation for Constance's return to which Monica asks, "Is this normal?"
"We're not normal, so take it as you will," Balthus suggests as Hapi and I agree with a shrug and Balthus points to his mug. "This stuff is like liquid courage to our Nuvelle girl."
"I still can't believe that she would do it in the first place. Ew," Lysithea remarks as she nibbles on some leftover peaches from dinner.
We wait a couple more minutes until we can see Constance marching proudly through the darkness and hold above her head proudly, "Behold! The pants that you requisitioned!"
Those are definitely Sylvain's pants and underwear she is holding. In my bewilderment, I prompt Constance, "Should we even ask how you managed to pull this off?"
"I'd be happy to elaborate on the endeavor. You see it was a small matter-"
Yuri waves his hand and interjects, "Thanks, Constance. I think we all have a good mental image already."
Constance huffs and removes a stray curl from out of her face, "Very well." She tosses the undergarments into the fire and asks, "Now, it's my question right?"
I frown and exhale deeply. "He probably would want his pants back." Tossing them into the fire wouldn't have been my option of where to place them, but considering how much Sylvain gets around...yeah that place seems fine now that I think about it.
We all stare at the burning clothing and then back to Constance who blushes and meekly replies, "Oops."
"What's done is done. It's your go Constance," I remind the eccentric pegasus rider who retakes her spot in our circle between Lysithea and Balthus.
She takes a moment to brush some dirt off of her gray skirt before stating, "Very well. I have a proposition for Monica."
Monica's interest piques as she looks to Constance with anticipation. "Hmmm?"
"I dare you to consume the rest of your drink without using your hands!"
Monica shrugs and begins taking off her boots. After a few seconds, Monica manages to wriggle her feet out and grips her mug with both of her feet and leans backward. The rest of us watch in amazement and a bit of confusion as she manages to waterfall the rest of her drink into her mouth with pinpoint accuracy.
Monica tosses the mug with her feet and rolls back to a sitting position with a grin. "Thank you, Constance. I thought you would give me something difficult! Now it's my turn…"
Constance mumbles something to herself that I can't hear as Monica looks to me, "Professor. I have one for you." She looks around the camp and into the woods as if someone is eavesdropping and whispers, "How about you walk through the fire barefoot."
Feeling perfectly comfortable where I am I take a swig from my mug. "Not happening. I don't care how good of a healer I am, that would hurt. I suppose it's my turn now?"
Monica pouts as she crosses her arms and gives me a stink eye, but did she seriously think I would do that? I don't think I could be drunk enough to do that. Well...maybe. But not right now. The more Monica speaks the more strange she seems to be.
As I'm wracking my brain for something good to ask I hear someone approaching our camp, and as I turn my head I manage to make out a few silhouettes emerging from the north. As they come into the light I notice that it's two Abyss guards escorting Sylvain who has a blanket wrapped around his waist, and he seems to be shivering a bit since it is nearing the end of Wyvern Moon after all and snow will be coming soon.
"We found this one coming near your camp, boss." The larger of the two men says as he gestures to Yuri.
Yuri nods and replies, "Very well. What brings you over to our little slice of paradise tonight, Sylvain?"
"Well, uh, I was just checking on how Constance was doing on inspecting my undergarments. She said that she would give it a grade on how likely it was to attract partners." Sylvain nervously laughs and rubs the back of his head.
We all look between each other before Constance hums, 'Ah, yes. If you would draw your attention to the firepit," She points at the completely charred pants and undergarments. "A failing grade. Such a pity. Good night, Sylvain."
Sylvain is escorted back his camp by the Abyss guards and the rest of us silently glance at each other and unanimously decide to call it a night. It's been a long day for all of us and it's time to call it quits before more shenanigans happen. Hanneman will probably have something to say tomorrow as it'll be a chilly walk back to Garreg Mach for Sylvain.
A/N: A little fluff section to buffer us going into the next sequence of events. It was a fun little scene to write and hopefully helps provide some more insight into the dynamics of the Ashen Wolves as a whole. The next few chapters may feel a bit fast-paced, but we'll be going into the route I call 'Charcoal Sun' and I'm excited to develop the RheaxOC relationship more. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten but I'm being patient and waiting for the best time to let it naturally grow with all the other craziness going on.
Review Response:
Guest: What's Santos look like? I thought I described it in the earlier chapters, but I'm sorry for not being explicit. I'll be honest and say they are definitely weaker in terms of the quality of writing (from my own perspective). BUT! Santos is a 29-year-old half Spanish Half Mexican at this point in the story, and if you want a facial idea I would say maybe he looks similar Nader but with sharper features, minus the scars, slightly darker skin tone, way less bulk and muscle, and of course missing an arm. I hope this helps your mental image and thanks for reading!
Bonefish: Monica's character has a lot of potential, so we'll explore some of that here in this fic. I hope you like the battle and thanks for reading!
Flitterflux: Oh it'd be weird, but I'm hopeful in my abilities to create something interesting if that did happen. We'll see. Thanks for the support!
VGBlackwing: Not super familiar with FGO, and I got burned out on Fate a long time ago :/ but I appreciate the effort and creativeness! Glad you're enjoying the character so much!
Boy Knight: Lol, that's a big derp on my part. It's been fixed so thank you. Editing is certainly not my strength haha!
A fan: Well, sorry you feel that way about some of the setup. I'm still new to trying to capture her tone correctly (weird writing for someone who is basically chaotic evil in the main game). As for her being a fake, nothing is different than canon game. I'll confirm that she is in fact Kronya. As for knowledge of what's going on and her mission? A bit more ambiguous with new elements in play. I'll take a look at the chapter to see if it's a bit overbearing, so thanks for the feedback and thanks for reading!
Whew! Large update this weekend with nearly 18k words! I'll have another chapter next week so be prepared, and feel free to drop a review on what you think might happen as we come to the end of White Clouds! See you all next time!
Next Chapter: 4/17-4-19
