"Fubuki no Kaen"
(MarthRoy)
Authors: Xan and Vallen
Rating: R
Warnings: One thing… Or, lot's of things: This is a story with yaoi/shounen
ai/slash, whatever you want to call it. If that sort of stuff isn't your thing,
then don't read it. But, we hope that you do…
Disclaimer: The characters Marth and Roy, plus "Altea", do not belong to us. We
just use them for our pleasure.
Feedback: Yes. (That means we would love to hear from you and what you think!)
Notes: Vallen: Thank all you guys for the wonderful "Happy Birthday" wishes to
Xan! *hugs all* I think this was another thing that made her birthday better!
Xan: (Evil Vallen was too impatient to put this up that she didn't ask Xan for comments, seeing as she wouldn't get them till much later)
Thanks to: Alex (Uh… The next part comes whenever we get un-lazy. Keep in mind that we're simple high school students… Zzz… *falls asleep in class*), Asudem (^___^ Yay! Wow, that really made me smile. Mmm… Delicious, eh? I'll second that. Oh, and thanks for the comment on Rowen! He'll be around for a while and we want you guys to like him!), tikimoof (Are you still having problems with the site? I hope you fix it soon! Then you won't have to miss chapters!), Spectrum (*dies laughing* Ehehe… Xan and I are big-time Ronin Warriors fans… But we thought that Rowen just suited the character. *keeps a secret smile as to the other comments*), Evil Anime Chick (Thanks!), YoshiMars (*both Xan and I bow* I love that last line too… *sighs dreamily* I want them to get together already!! Damn! We've written up to page 190 in the f.no.k notebook- you're on pg. 128 at the end of this chapter- and they're… Frustrating! Gah! *takes deep breaths* Says me, the rabid yaoi fangirl), Sinnatious (Sweetness! That chapter deserved a "fantastic"? We like that chapter too, lots of good, interesting stuff.), Pichu*Star (Whew! Here's at least one person who doesn't want to overwork us! But then again, it would be our own faults, I guess. Thanks for joining the group!), Miru-muru (*secret smile* Um, that is classified information!), kyuusei (Yeah, well, we had to introduce the bad guy some more, seeing as he is what he is. *blinks* Rowen's creepy?? Nononono! But I'm glad you like the "Marth as a mage" thing! We love to write fantasy and couldn't resist! Thanks for joining the group!), Oketsu Ame (Heh, so many readers, so many people who like our work! *cheers*), Shea (Freaky? How is it freaky? *pouts* It's supposed to be cool…), Turquoisefox (*snorts* Uh.. Gaimen? Heh. Pronounce it however you desire. ^_~ Oh, and about the incest thing… Well, Xan fibbed a little and pulled a fast one on me! Don't blame me!) LiL PriNCeSs Me (Sorry, but we take a lot of pride in our "mean-ness"… Isn't that what keeps you guys so interested?), and Li Kayun (*grins* Yes, I rather like Roy-chan as my little brat. He tends to deal with situations much differently that Marth does, which makes it more fun to write. *huggles Roy-chan*)
Roy looked at Marth sleeping there peacefully. He hated the Prince for what he was, but did he hate him for who he was? The auburn-haired teen shook his head and lay down, still looking at Marth's face.
The exiled Prince was desirable, no doubt to that, but he disliked him too much. He would probably be better suited to a girl (or princess) with a personality like his own- but wait, why was he thinking like this?
Sure, he'd had small flings between a few soldiers, but those had been purely physical and non-personal to relieve tension, nothing else. The teen didn't have any desires, really, but instead focused on the sword and his training. He kept telling himself that he would become the greatest general ever and he would be in the history books forever.
But, that was the future and the present was looking pretty miserable right now. He went to sleep in a bad disposition, and would most likely wake up in one.
When Marth awoke the next morning, he felt better than he had in days. Whether it was due to the fact that they were in the presence of a powerful Mage or that he was a fast healer, he didn't know. He sat up and ran a hand through his tousled dark blue hair. It was absurdly long now, about an inch past his shoulders. It had always grown much faster than everybody else's. He had a memory of his father catching hold of him when he was younger with very long hair and hacking it off haphazardly with a dagger, growling how he didn't want his son looking like a court beauty. He had gone around for the next while with his hair all uneven and choppy.
Stubble had also invaded Marth's usually smooth face, making it prickly. He rubbed it and frowned. Maybe Rowen had a razor he could lend him.
Not bothering to pull on a shirt, Marth got up out of the cot and limped from the room. He found the exit of the cottage and went outside.
The cold air caressed his skin like a gentle lover. Marth let out a sigh of contentment as it flowed into his body, making him feel whole. He went to the stable to check up on Cloud and Roy's black mare. They were fine, warm, and well fed. Rowen obviously knew how to keep his animals in good accommodations.
Once outside again, Marth raised his hand and concentrated experimentally. Ice blue power gathered in his palm, swirling there like a miniature blizzard.
"You're quite good, you know that?" Rowen's rough voice sounded through the air, loud and clear from the entrance to the small stable. The mage had changed his other robes for more earth-colored ones. "You have a natural gift that not many have. In fact, the amount of magic power these days has dwindled, leaving only a few select mages in this land, so you are a rarity indeed."
Marth turned around and looked at the mage, slightly surprised.
"I don't even know what I'm doing, really. I never expected to be a Mage or to have any kind of magic. But now that I do, I wish to learn all I can about it. Do the lessons begin today?"
The brown-haired man nodded, walking over to Marth and placing a hand over the ex-prince's heart briefly. A blue light glowed where their skin came into contact. When Rowen pulled away, his amethyst eyes looked lively and bright.
"You know… I think this could be a great deal of fun. Let's start with the basics, shall we?"
Rowen led Marth back into the cabin and into a dark room he'd never seen before. When the mage went around the room, he touched several rocks, which automatically started glowing and illuminating the room at his touch.
It was a library of sorts, with shelves full of books and other items of unknown purpose and origin, most probably for magic.
"This is my study, where I train myself and read. You may use this place to your benefit, if you wish. Sit here…" The mage motioned, sitting down on a circular rug on the floor.
The exiled Prince followed his example and settled on the rug across from Rowen. His cobalt blue eyes traveled over the room's interior.
"Thank you. What should I do now?"
"Just sit still a moment. I'm going to teach you basic mage tools, like how to mindspeak, start fires (seeing as it's useful this time of year), and then we'll begin on your real power."
The older man probed Marth's mind with his own and found a flowing connection.
'Do you hear this?' he sent. 'Concentrate and try to speak to me with your mind, not your mouth.'
Marth jumped a bit, unused to hearing voices in his head. He opened his mouth to answer, and then stopped himself.
'Mind, not mouth.' He told himself, concentrating on Rowen's mind. 'Yes, I can hear you.'
'Good. I want you to talk to me like this for a while until you get used to it, no talking. And remember, you can use this any time you cannot speak or just want to with any person- the only thing is if they are able to reply back or not. Like, take your friend for instance.'
The mage got a large stone bowl and put some kindling in it. A small fire had formed after an instant- Rowen had clearly started it with a wave of his hand.
'Now, I know that with your kind of power, you're more likely to kill this fire than make it bigger, but I want you to try.'
Marth nodded and stretched his power towards the fire tentatively. It sputtered violently before going out completely.
He drew back, startled.
"I'm sorry!" He said aloud to Rowen before remembering that he was only supposed to use mindspeech.
'I'm sorry,' he said again, this time correctly.
'That's all right. I expected that to happen, actually. It's no fault of yours,' Rowen replied, lighting the fire once again. 'Perhaps we should just concentrate on not killing it first, then work from there.'
The blue-haired young man nodded and reached out for the fire again, even more tentatively than before. He touched it with his powers, half-expecting in to go out. To his surprise, it turned ice blue and dimmed only slightly, then re-grew to its normal size. Marth looked to Rowen, waiting instruction from the mage.
Rowen nodded in approval, making the fire go out with a wave of his hand.
'Good, you're learning control. We'll touch on the firestarting again after we see how powerful you are with the ice and cold. Do you think you could create snow in here out of thin air, or have you only tried to control what is already there?' he sent.
'I've only tried to control the storm and it knocked me out for a week,' Marth said. 'But I can try…'
The ex-prince closed his eyes and fumbled around within him, searching for the icy core of power. He found and unlocked it, bringing it to the surface. He didn't know it, but he was glowing an eerie blue color.
'Snow,' he whispered mentally. 'I want snow.'
A few flakes formed in the air and floated slowly down to the floor.
Marth's blazing blue eyes narrowed,
'Real snow.'
He focused harder and abruptly there was a bright flash of blue and a swirl of snow.
Marth opened his eyes again and found that snow covered everything. He looked at Rowen, brushing through the snow that had piled on top of his head.
'That was great,' Rowen complimented, standing up and going to open up a window. The weather mage created wind and moved all the snow from the room to outside where it belonged. But the temperature of the area dropped even more.
'It looks like I'll have to wear more clothes when training you,' the amethyst-eyed man said with a slight shiver, which he covered very well. 'I should get you some clothes. Would you like a tunic and robes since we're going to be outside? Just because you feel unaffected by the cold doesn't mean you have to walk around half-naked.'
Marth blushed slightly at the praise and looked down at the floor.
'I don't mind, but I'll put clothes on,' he sent back, his mindspeech still wavering a bit.
'That's what I thought. I'll be right back with the clothing and then we'll get some food- it's nothing what palace kitchens bring out, but at least its something. Feel free to touch anything,' Rowen replied mentally, and then walked out of the room.
Marth looked around the small chamber. His eye lighted upon a book lying open on a table. Curious, he walked over to it and looked at the page. It was written in his language, but the dialect was quite ancient. A large, beautifully detailed drawing was on the opposite page. It showed a countryside plagued with famine. Men and animals were suffering; the land was barren and dead. Then, it showed a man in robes waving his hand over the land and it became green and alive again. Marth's eyes widened.
"If only I could do such a thing to Altea…"
"Wouldn't that be nice…? But probably the best thing you could do is freeze the land over, which wouldn't be good," interjected Rowen as he walked back in carrying a few things. He handed the Marth a clean black tunic and blue robes to put on.
The exiled Prince took the clothes and dressed himself. Black and blue were very good colors for Marth. They set off his pale skin along with his blue hair and eyes dramatically.
"So all my powers will pertain only to ice and snow?"
'That is your element, so yes, for now…' the mage reverted back to mindspeech, 'but you have to put things into perspective- You've only been at this for two or so days, but maybe after a few years, you could branch out and test other powers.'
Marth nodded. Rowen had a very valid point- he couldn't possibly hope to be a master of magecraft after only such a short time. But Marth had decided that he would aspire to become the most powerful Mage that he could be. For his kingdom, his people, and maybe even himself.
'Let's eat, then go outside to train. Oh, and I almost forgot, will your friend be joining us anytime soon?'
The blue-haired man blinked. He hadn't seen Roy all morning.
'I honestly don't know. I'm unsure as to how long he intends to sleep.'
Your friend. Rowen's words made Marth stop and think. Were they friends? He had never been anything less than civil and helpful to the general, but Roy still acted like he hated him. Why? The question plagued the prince, despite his efforts to shrug it off.
'Alright, that's fine.' Rowen led him to a kitchen-like area and started making something that looked somewhat like food. 'The two of you make quite a pair, I think. You have powers of ice and he seems like the type that despises the cold… But it is not my business anyways. Here, eat.'
The mage handed him a bowl of hot oatmeal, a spoon, and a large chunk of bread. Once Marth had taken it, he got his own.
Marth didn't feel like discussing his unknown and tremulous relationship with Roy, so he remained silent and ate as per Rowen's instructions.
'Is there any way I can repay you for your kindness towards us?' he asked at last when he had finished.
The elder magic-holder dumped his dish into a small tub of water and turned to leave the room.
'I don't think there's much you can do for an old hermit like me, but if you think of anything when you've got your kingdom back, you know where to find me. Come on outside,' he replied.
The blue-haired man stood and followed Rowen, feeling more at ease knowing that he would be able to pay the mage back.
'Oh, and get your sword. You're going to need it because I'm going to train you in a whole different way than those pansies at the castle,' Rowen told him, grabbing his own longsword before walking out.
Roy woke up cold, tired and hungry. He got out of bed stiffly and opened the door and crack just in time to see that middle-aged hermit and Marth walk out the front door with swords in hand. The teen shook his head with a deep frown, closing the door again and climbing back into the cot with a shiver.
'This is insane. We're supposed to be going to the castle and reclaiming it, not stopping so "his highness" can get special magic training… But then again, I can't travel in this weather. Oh, hell…'
TBC…
Vallen: *stretches, cracking her knuckles* Wow. I guess it's just a matter of what you set your mind to, 'cause I typed this one pretty fast… I know, I know, it needs to be PUT UP faster, but… waiii… *whines* Anyways, did you enjoy that one? It was mostly about the magic… Fun!
Xan: (Evil Vallen was too impatient to put this up that she didn't ask Xan for comments, seeing as she wouldn't get them till much later)
FORBODING HINT FROM VALLEN: I'm so excited about the next chapter! *can barely contain her excitement* I cannot wait to hear what you guys have to say about THAT… Heh. Much fun lies in store for the next installment! Till next time! *evil grin*