Couple of people have been asking for a Shamir chapter, so here ya go.
Enjoy.
Where was he?
They were supposed to meet up once the sun had begun to disappear below the tree line. Yet the Monastery's newest Professor was nowhere to be found. Maybe he had gotten lost? No, that didn't seem like him. He was, like her, a former merc after all.
Shamir was perfectly fine with hunting by herself anyway, but Byleth had apparently expressed interest in hunting with her, so she figured she could just let him tag along. The two split up to cover different areas of the forest, agreeing to meet up after a few hours to compare their catches before returning to the Monastery. Yet the man was no where to be found.
Had he gotten caught in a trap? No, surely someone like him wouldn't be so clumsy to accidently stumble into a-
"Shamir."
The woman stopped, checking her surroundings, she could've sworn she just heard...
"Up here."
Shamir looked up and almost immediately bit back a laugh.
The Professor, Byleth, was suspended above her; caught in a large net hanging from a sturdy tree branch. Despite his situation however, the man had on a calm, neutral expression. His half-lidded eyes staring down at her.
Shamir rested a hand on her hip. "How did that happen? Didn't I tell you to watch out for net traps?"
Byleth nodded. "You did, but apparently I was not careful enough."
Shamir chuckled lightly to herself. "Ya know, this reminds of the story of 'The Girl in the Traps'; you ever hear it?"
Byleth shook his head. "I have not. How does it go?
Shamir shrugged. "Not to sure on the details, all I know is there was a clumsy archer a long time ago in a faraway kingdom, would always get caught up in different traps." She shook her head. "There's lots of different versions of the story, there's one where she gets caught in a trap with some prince and the two fall in love but I never cared much for it."
"Love or the story?" Byleth asked, still hanging in the net.
Shamir didn't answer, merely nocking an arrow and letting it loose towards Byleth, cutting the rope tying the net to the branch and watching as the Professor fell to the ground; standing up and shaking the net off of him.
"Thank you." He said bluntly. Shamir nodded.
"So, how'd you fare?"
Byleth glanced over to a deer carcass nearby, an arrow still lodged in its neck. Better then her it seems, all Shamir got was two measly rabbits, she couldn't tell if this guy was skilled, ignorant, or both.
"Mm, good job. Let's head back."
Byleth nodded and walked over to the deer carcass, grabbing it and hoisting it over his shoulder, following behind Shamir. The two remained silent as they walked, Shamir glancing over her shoulder every now and then to make sure that Byleth was still following her, he was too quiet sometimes.
"I heard you were a mercenary." Byleth said.
Shamir glanced over her shoulder again. "Oh yeah? Who told you that."
"Catherine."
Figures, Catherine and Byleth had gotten awfully close lately. Not that she really cared though, what those two did was their business.
"Well, I heard you were one yourself. Part of the legendary 'Jeralt the Blade-Breaker' no less." Shamir said.
"I never really knew he was so famous until just recently."
"Well from what I hear you're pretty famous yourself, 'Ashen Demon'."
Byleth froze up upon hearing that name, Shamir stopping and turning around to face him.
"You okay?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Byleth remained silent for a few seconds before nodding.
"I am, I just dislike that name is all."
Hm, so he does have dislikes. Shamir turned away from Byleth and the two resumed their trek back. While Shamir did prefer silence, she felt as if the silence between them was awkward now, since she made Byleth uncomfortable with her name drop earlier.
"So what did you mainly do as a mercenary?" Byleth curiously asked.
"I suppose I did more dirty work, I won't really bother explaining it."
"I see..."
Silence drifted between them again for a few moments, before the Professor decided to break it with another question.
"Do you ever think about going back?" He asked.
"To...?"
"To being a mercenary."
"The thought has crossed my mind."
Shamir had a hunch as to why the Professor asked such a question, poor guy's whole life as a mercenary was over within just a day and a half. He probably thought he was gonna serve the church as a merc, so to suddenly be in charge of a whole bunch of noble kids was probably more then a little disorientating. Despite that, the man seems to have adapted surprisingly well; even Shamir had to admit that itself was impressive.
He just kept reminding her of her old partner more and more...
"Sometimes I wonder if the students really like me." Byleth stated, Shamir raised an eyebrow. Was he always this chatty? She didn't mind it, but from what she had heard he was usually the quiet type. Maybe he was opening up to her because of their similar past professions.
"I doubt that very much, from what I've seen your students admire you." She chuckled lightly. "Even Catherine seems to like you."
"I think she's more jealous of me then anything..."
"Hah!" Shamir uncharacteristically let out a short laugh, stopping and turning around to face Byleth, a grin on her face. "Catherine? Jealous? Now that's something I'd like to see." Shamir's smile shortly disappeared after she saw the Professor's expression, which was one of surprise.
"What is it?"
Byleth shook his head. "Nothing it's just...I've never seen you smile before." Byleth gave a soft smile. "I like it."
Shamir felt the heat rise to her cheeks and she turned away, resuming her walk. Byleth following behind her.
Shamir suddenly stopped again, her eyes darting back and forth as she drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it in her bow, Byleth must've sensed the danger as well, because he had already drawn his sword.
After a few seconds multiple bandits emerged from behind the trees. Bandits so close to the Monastery? Looks like the knights have gotten careless...
The bandits had them surrounded, and Byleth and Shamir had their backs against one another. Shamir turned her head to glance behind her at Byleth.
"Well, let's see what you can do."
Byleth nodded silently, and the events that followed afterwards silenced any doubt that Shamir had about the Professor's skill in battle. She could see now where his Demon title came from, his fighting style was ruthless, not a second of hesitation in his swings, each and everyone one of his strikes were so determined.
In fact the way he was fighting was so well coordinated with her own shots, the two were so in sync, a feeling she hadn't felt in so long, not since her old partner.
A bandit came rushing out of the brush from behind Shamir, and she went for her dagger, but Byleth appeared and slashed the bandit across the back, he glanced at her briefly before turning around and clashing swords with another bandit. His situational awareness was incredible, how he knew that bandit was there was almost impossible.
He was certainly something else.
Within minutes the Bandits lay before them dead, Byleth casually sheathing his sword before picking up the deer carcass and turning to Shamir. She simply stared at him. "Good job." she didn't know what else to say after such a ruthless display.
They resumed their trek back to the Monastery, the rest of the journey proving to be uneventful.
Shamir emerged the Arch-Bishops office, having given her report to Rhea. Although it was only just supposed to be a hunt, the appearance of the bandits so close to the Monastery was enough to warrant a report.
A loud voice came bellowing from behind Shamir.
"There you are! Thought we'd lost ya!" Catherine said, patting her archer friend on the back. Shamir lurched forward slightly from the force of the pat before turning to her ever-eager friend.
"Well I'm fine." She said, Catherine nodded. "I see that, and I hear ya went out hunting with the new Professor too. What'd you think of him?"
Shamir glanced away, before smiling softly to herself.
"He's alright."
Sorry for the long silence, I've been getting a lot more busier lately and finding myself with less and less free time. I'm trying to get back on track so hopefully updates will be more frequent. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm not 100% okay with it, but it is at the very least passable. To me at least.
Until next time.