Hi again! So soon as well!
Just a short little thing I thought up a few days ago. A spare moment between these two children, I should say.
Hope you enjoy!
IV. Moments: Long Road Ahead
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"Hey Byleth…"
The mercenary company continued their travels to Fhirdiad. The colors of the leaves began to change as they travelled north, the lush greenery turning into a vibrant collage of gold and orange.
The clacking of the carriage and the light neighing of the horses sounded throughout the air. The mountain ranges of Northern Faerghus loomed ahead of them.
Mercedes sat with her legs hanging off the back of the carriage. Byleth rode directly behind, facing her in a way they were able to talk while they travelled.
While Jeralt led the group at the front of the caravan, Ava read quietly in the carriage, slowly being rocked to sleep by the dull movement of the horses.
"Yes…?"
Byleth looked up to face Mercedes. She swung her legs as the carriage travelled.
"Sir Jeralt told me a story a little while ago. He told me one time when he was younger, he was stuck at a crossroads, at night when the animals were most active."
"Okay…"
"And there were two roads in front of him. On one road was a bunch of cougars, ready to pounce! And on the other, a group of rattlesnakes, ready to bite. He was stuck, unless he decided to go down one of these roads."
Byleth grew confused. His father had never told him such a story before. Perhaps it was a story from his early days as a mercenary…
"But… he was able to get past one of the groups and continue down the road safely! Which side do you think he got past, Byleth? The cougars, or the rattlesnakes?"
Mercedes held a finger up and grinned, waiting for Byleth's answer.
"Uh… I don't know, actually."
"The answer is… the rattlesnakes! You know why?"
The rattlesnakes seemed like a reasonable answer to Byleth. Anyone who would even attempt to sneak past a road full of cougars likely wouldn't even live to tell the tale. He wouldn't peg his father as the type to make a poor decision such as-
"It's because they were asssssleep! And they were ssssssnoring on the side of the road!"
…?
"…My dad never told me that story before."
Mercedes waved her finger in front of Byleth.
"I just made it up! It's a joke, get it? Because rattlesnakes hiss at you."
"…Aren't rattlesnakes more active at night? Why would they be asleep?"
Mercedes crossed her arms as she attempted to explain.
"H-Hey! It's just a joke! But… what did you think? I thought of it myself!"
"…It was okay."
"Well, I thought it was pretty funny!"
Mercedes let out a sigh as Byleth followed behind her slowly. His face remained blank as he watched her face grow a shy smile.
"…We'll have to work on your humor, I think… work with me, Byleth..."
Mercedes sighed again before letting out a soft laugh. Byleth smiled at the girl's earnest attempt to amuse him.
The caravan continued down the road. Once more, the golden leaves of the fall danced in the sky.
I thought of this little story a while ago and wrote it up quick one evening. I wasn't sure how well it would mesh during the chapters themselves, so consider this the first in a series of 'moments' between Byleth and Mercedes!
These'll be short little vignettes based around themes I can't fit into the main chapters, but ones that I really want to include somehow. Consider them little one-shots between the big chapters.
Oh yeah... I took the joke from this moment from JoJo's Part 7.
I reread Steel Ball Run again a little while ago and loved the little bonding moments between Johnny and Gyro as told through the lame jokes they tell each other. This one in particular was told by a certain Diego Brando, and let's just say the joke about the rattlesnakes and the cougars didn't land at all with the other two. That story is also about travels, so I thought that something like that could mesh well with this part of the story.
Hopefully I can keep inspired enough to write a few more of these as the story goes on!
Thank you guys for reading again. I really, truly, appreciate each and every one of you. ~
See you guys next time.
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~Arujira