Fubuki no Kaen
(MARTHROY)
Authors: Xan and Vallen
Warnings: One thing… Or, lots of things: This is a story with eventual 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 of 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: We kinda rushed this chapter, because ff.net is a BITCH!! X_x Enjoy.
Xan: *giggles insanely* This is a fun fun fun chappie, so I hope y'all like reading it as much as we liked writing it!
Thank you: Sinnatious (Aw, depressed? We don't mean to do that... We'll try to be better! *bawls* We're gonna miss Rowen too!), Yoshimars (Yes, things heat up! They get quite toasty... *grin*), Dark Comet (Yay, we're glad that you guys liked the length. We decided to just get all the boring bit out at once, so here ya go. *is hugged* wai, i feel loved! *blinks* Hey, Marth and Roy are stuck in the closet! *gigglesnorts*), Chibi Fairy (Yes, kawaii little bishounen! that's them to a T!), Miru-Miru (Of COURSE we enjoy torturing you! Why else would we write this fic? Aside from our own twisted entertainment... bwaha!), Klar (Ac-tually, the Marth reading Roy's thoughts thing doesn't really go anywhere... I somehow failed to see the gold in that. Sorry! Maybe later!), tikimoof (Ack! I really did try that translation thing, but it didn't work! Sorry! *sniff sniff sniff* I'm gonna miss Rowen too! He's so wonderful! But he's a hermit and he has to stay hermited or whatever. But don't worry, this is not the end of him. *coughs*spoiler for the sequel*coughs*), Spanish Ninja Sneasel (Er, the weather doesn't warm up, but something else sure does! Keep reading! *evil laughter*), Marth-Roy Fan (Yep, it's finishing soon! But you can bet your bishies that there's gonna be a sequel! Vallen and I are addicted! And besides, we don't want hoards of angry fans after us... *cowers*), Lil PriNCeSs Me (Yay! I'm so happy that people liked the less-exciting chapters too because they're kind of vital and the characters need down-time too. Can't just be one battle after another all the time. They are human!), Sake Girl Duelist (Whoa, hard thing to give up! But there'll be lots of fighting later, so be patient!), Pichu*Star (Waiiii!! *nudges Vallen* You hear that! We SO need to get published! We've been thinking about that and we decided it would be very scary! Why aren't there pro fanfiction writers? *sniffs* That's what I wanna be when I grow up! Vallen and I would be zillionaires by now!)
Roy lay in his bed as well, trying to drop off into the depths of sleep. He thought it would have been easy, but his skin (for some odd reason) was itching and burning. He groaned and got up, intent on asking where the washroom was. Once downstairs, he was shown to a small bathing area- which only a few people occupied. The teen stripped and began to wash himself, scrubbing as his tingling skin.
'What's wrong with me? I don't have a fever or anything… That's just too strange…' He thought to himself.
When Roy had finished, he dried off and put his dirty clothes back on, feeling a little better. After gathering some firewood, he began to build a fire up in the small fireplace in his room.
'Much better…' The auburn-haired teen said inwardly before settling back in bed.
Three days had passed and Marth had managed to stay in his room essentially the entire time. The inn staff had been kind enough to deliver his meals after he explained that he was recovering from an imaginary serious illness. He trusted Roy to take care of their business.
It was high noon, and the two young men were spending the day in their rooms once again. Roy had often wasted his days wandering around the small town, enjoying the feel of village life once again. It reminded him vaguely of his childhood. He had been out exercising the horses that morning, so after a quick lunch, he sat in the room, sharpening his sword aimlessly.
That was when he heard the screams and shouts. The auburn-haired teen had thought that it had grown a bit too hot for a winter afternoon, but now it was painfully clear.
"Fire! Fire!" He heard from outside his window.
Roy ran to it and looked down. The entire first floor was enveloped in flames and people were scattered on the ground below, in chaos. Only then did he begin to panic…
He opened the window roughly and threw his few belongings out of the window- his pack and his sword in its sheath. His heart rate increasing, he burst out of his room, greeted by a wall of thick, black smoke. Roy's eyes stung and watered, liquid trailing down his cheeks as he blinked through it. The smoke invaded his lungs and he coughed, covering his mouth with one hand.
'… Either I jump from a two-story building and break a bone or worse… Or I run downstairs and get burned… Damn,' The ex-general thought. Then his eyes widened in shock, slightly glazed from the smoke.
'Where's Marth?'
Marth had been sleeping intermittently all day and was woken up now by an oppressive heat settling over him like some sore of blanket. He coughed a few times and groaned, wiping sweat from his face before finally opening his eyes.
The room was full of thick, acrid black smoke and dancing flames were licking at the walls and ceiling like fingers trying to tear them down. The heat was unbearably, choking Marth worse than the smoke. It filled his senses like a red haze, blinding and deafening him.
He stumbled out of bed, gasping and choking in a failed attempt to get oxygen. The black smoke burned his throat and lungs so that each breath was excruciating. His eyes watered and his skin blistered as a result of the flames that surrounded him.
"Roy!" He gasped through the smoke. "Help me!"
The ex-general heard Marth's cry and burst into the blue-haired man's room, glancing all around for his prince. It was hard to think with all the pandemonium in the air, but he found a way through it. He went to Marth's side and handed him a strip of cloth.
"Hold that to your mouth, close your eyes, and stay low. I'm going to get us out of here…" Roy told him, his voice shaky, and grabbed Marth's wrist tightly. The teen led him out and through the hall, careful of the flames.
Marth held onto Roy, coughing and choking. Everything burned and he felt his strength being baked out of him. A sudden burst of flame blasted out and engulfed both of them. Marth let out a strangled yell of pain and fell to the floor, clutching at Roy with seared hands.
Roy cried out in surprise and felt the fire on his body, but it did not hurt. The burning felt almost… nice. With the strength he didn't know he had, he hooked his arms under Marth's and pulled the ex-prince onto his back, beginning to haul him down the stairs.
The fire was an overwhelming roar in his ears and he could no longer hear Marth's cries. They were almost down the stairs when the last few steps gave way under them. Roy landed on the scorching floor, feeling his skin hiss in contact with the fire. Marth was still on his back…
"Marth… You may… get burned more, but we're almost there… We have to get through before the building collapses…" He panted, forcing himself to get back up.
Marth didn't answer. The combination of the smoke and heat and fire had finally caused the icy prince to lose consciousness. The flames approached the two exiled warriors, encircling them in a deadly ring.
The teen's heartbeat grew faster when he heard nothing from the royal. He adjusted the limp body on his back and started to run. The building collapsed.
Pieces of burning wood fell all around them, but only a few hit and injured the two young men. Roy couldn't hear a thing- not even his pounding footsteps, the screams of the villagers, or the fire.
The fire licked at his body and he felt it, but not the pain. Flames consumed him, but he would not let them get Marth. A blinding light exploded in front of his eyes when he shoved his way through the piles of burning and cracking wood, finally making it out of the burning wreckage.
Villagers greeted them, with their hands extended to help them. Roy felt Marth be pulled off his back and whirled around dizzily.
"Fetch the water! He's caught on fire!" A man shouted.
"… What?" Roy croaked, having not heard them (he had only seen their mouths moving), then gasped sharply when his body was doused in cold water. He fell to the ground on his knees, looking wildly around for Marth.
The villagers had dragged the ex-prince aside and were trying to revive him. Marth's clothes, along with his body, were scorched and charred from the fire. His face was not visible, hidden by his longer hair, which was in tangles about his head. Several people surrounded him, gently applying salve on the ex-royal's fresh burns, to help the pain and speed up the healing process. They waved smelling salts in front of his nose and fanned fresh air to his face.
Roy felt his face turn to the still-burning woodpile that was once an inn- He couldn't tear his eyes from it. He was quite a sight as well, the tips of his auburn hair burnt off, smudges of black upon his too-pale, white face. He looked like a fire victim who never got burned. The teen smelt like fire, as barely-visibly smoke floated off his body, and he breathed in raspy pants from lack of oxygen. Every one of his senses were in perpetual, unstoppable motion… Except for his hearing. Roy could hear nothing.
He reached an outstretched hand towards the dying flames, looking very much like one of the undead. The fire jumped, shying away from him at first, then returned, almost as if it was exhibiting a curious nature.
Roy's eyes widened and he pushed himself to his feet, stumbling backwards. Next, he raised his hands to his head, probing his ears experimentally. Nothing. He glanced around once again- they had not managed to revive Marth, but were picking him up. He stared at the villagers' mouths, moving, but making no sounds. The only sound he could even vaguely remember was the thundering road of the fire. The ex-general threw one last look at Marth before turning and sprinting off in the opposite direction in a confused panic.
Marth awoke several hours later to find himself lying in a soft bed. His eyes opened slowly and he tried to push himself into a sitting position, only to be stopped by a sudden lash of pain from his hand. With a wince, he lay back down and raised his hand to find that it was wrapped in clean white bandages. His eyes widened slightly and he looked down upon himself.
The young monarch's body was definitely worse for the wear. His hands and arms up to the elbows were bandaged, as were his legs/
'Roy, where are you?' He thought faintly.
'I've gone insane… First I escape a fire without getting a single burn, then there was that thing with the fire and it moving when I waved my hand…' The auburn-haired teen thought miserably, holding his head in his hands. 'And now I hear Marth's voice inside my head, the first thing I've heard in hours…'
Roy sat on a large, thick branch in a high tree, away from the deep snow upon the ground. Night leered closer and the temperature dropped, but the exiled general's body was overrun with a strange fever. Sweat trickled down his face, wetting his body, hair and charred clothes. He trembled and shook from time to time, but refused to let himself grow weak.
'My mind is lost…But…I still have my duty to Marth… I must…' Roy thought of the blue-haired prince, probably barely conscious somewhere and hopefully being cared for by the villagers.
He dropped down from the tree clumsily with a quiet groan and began to walk. There was little chance that he could find his way back to the small town, but he would try… And as he walked, Roy did not notice the snow melting under his bare feet.
TBC…
Xan: *giggles* Well, that was fun! What happens next? Tune in next time for the next exciting chapter of... *dramatic music* Fubuki no Kaen!
Vallen: *point* Yeah, what she said… Yaaawn. Gah, no.. I'm not falling asleep! This chapter was exciting, dammit! Thank all you guys for your support…. *falls asleep at computer*