Fubuki no Kaen
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: Xan: Mmm…. We promised gender-bending, so here it is. Enjoy! *is beginning to sound like a Coke commercial*
Vallen: Here's to all you cross-dressing lovers! *raises glass*
Thanks to: Spanish Ninja Sneasel (Glad you liked it! And I really liked that part with Marth's sword too. I thought it was adorable. ^_^ They're so damn cute!! Yeah… Marth's a tough teacher. *sweatdrop*), Tikimoof (Heh… About the hay and hair thing… I'm very blonde and horses tend to think that my hair is hay, so I'm not making it up. I don't know how they can confuse MARTH'S hair, but it's kind of a motiff now, so I'm not going to change it. Besides, I think it's cute.), Evui (No, Akon is in Dallas, TX… But we'd love to go to ANY kon! They're fun!), Spectrum (Yes yes yes, crossdressing! This was suuuuuch fun to write! I loved it muchly! And we're glad you're liking it too!), Pannybaby123, (Ah yes, the necklace was MY little touch, one that I'm very proud of. Vallen liked it too, so it's kind of a major part of FNOK2, which makes me happy.), Ryuke-Naoe (Yeeees… Marth looks GOOD in drag. So does Roy for that matter. I'm hoping to get some yummy fanart out of this chappie. *hint hint*), Sinnatious (YES! There is indeed a FNOK 2, which we are currently writing and having a ball in, actually. *cheers* It's almost more fun than this one 'cause we have a handle on the characters and stuff. Oh, and thank you for the compliment on the last line. It was mine. *proud* It's 'cause Vallen doesn't "do humor" as she puts it. -_-), Lil PriNCeSs Me (Hee… We certainly HOPE you're amused, even if you're supposed to feel sorry for the poor dears. *snrk* "Dears?" Oh man…), Dark Comet (Yes! "Photo Op!" All the way! ^_^ THIS is pure Marth and Roy blackmail materiel. Now if only we could get Rowen in drag…. *sweatdrop*), Pokenicole18 (We loved your fanart! And at least ONE person is looking forward to seeing Gaiman… The bastard. He's not a RAT bastard like Trave was, but he's certainly a bastard nonetheless. Hee…), Pichu*Star (We're glad you liked the lime, even if that was mostly all Vallen. And no, unfortunately, Roy does NOT burn down the castle, but he does certainly get to put his fire powers to good use. *clams up* And no more freebie hints! My lips are sealed from here on out. And I wanna see the FE anime! I've heard Marth is kind of a dork… Say it ain't so!), Sake Girl Duelist (Glad you liked it! And go kick some butt with Roy- you earned it! ^_^), Winstrough (WIN-KUN! So happy to see you review again! ^_^ *glomps Win* Even though you didn't say a thing about my baby Marth, I'll forgive you.), hooshi (Gah, don't fall off! Reviewers are NOT allowed to die – it's Xan-Vallen policy. ^_^;; Hope this helps!), YoshiMars (YAY FANART! *glomphug* If any of you ever feel like you'd like to repay us for our wonderful work, you can ALWAYS draw fanart. And it doesn't matter if it's stick people either! IT's all good!), Klar (We love you too! Can't you tell?), ElsalErestar (^_^ We aim to please of course! Thank Vallen for that, btw. She's the one who reviewed. And nice try, but your powers are no match for ours! Good thing we try to get these out quickly anyways. Er, try. ^_^;;), LilFilipinoGurl (Lurve! You said lurve! I lurve you!), Leera the Elemental Mage (Hehehehehehehe… We'll see. We try to please, but our twisted minds may have more torture in mind. *goes off, cackling*), Asudem (Akon is in Dallas, TX like I said above. And for the purposes of THIS fic, Roy's voice hasn't changed and it's not as deep as Marth's. *sweatdrop* That's kind of scary…), Doven (YAY, another Akon-goer! We'll have to meet up! …And scar you for life, but that's okay! (vallen note: If you're serious about hooking up, feel free to e-mail us! xan_vallen@cliffhanger.com)
"What the hell? I don't think so… What about your voice? Are you just not going to talk?"
"I don't talk anyways. We'll say I have some sort of condition or that I'm mute or something."
"We?"
"You."
"So… We're the same thing?" There was a slight pause before Roy's face clearly indicated that he had an idea. "We'll both be maids!"
"And apply for work at the castle? Sounds good."
"Yeah… We gotta get clothes at the next town or something," Roy coughed, calming himself down. "I am not excited about this."
"It's not so bad. People have done worse things and as long as we get into the castle, it doesn't matter. The ends justify the means."
"You're right," Roy agreed, speeding up their pace. "Oh… And Marth? I've been thinking more about this whole healing thing and I've decided that it's useful. I mean, if you're hurt or something in all this, I could save your life."
"You've already saved it once. If you do it much more, you'll have a King eternally in your debt." Marth was, in reality, quite pleased with Roy's attitude change. He only wished that he could tell Rowen about Roy's newfound powers.
"Hell, I could heal a lot of people…" The teen mused, glancing down at himself. "I have one more question: When do you get to the point that you're just too tired to use any more magic?"
"When it's all run out. Magic is like physical energy- there are limits. If you keep using magic after you've reached the end of your limit, you draw on your own life force. It is not pleasant, I can assure you from personal experience. The after-effects are painful and you can even kill yourself if you put too much of your energy in."
"Oh," Roy said. "That's probably the reason why I didn't want magic in the first place. Too risky. But promise me that you won't kill yourself- If you do that all this pain and torture will be a waste."
"I have no intention of dying now." Marth answered quietly. "I owe it to myself and my people to stay alive. And I owe it to you."
The boy-general was silent for a few moments.
"I suppose… But you don't really owe me anything."
"What if I think I do?
"Believe me, you don't."
Roy and the black mare suddenly switched leads and galloped off, breaking through the thin layer of untouched snow on the road.
It was after nightfall when Marth and Roy reached the capital city. The horses were tired, as were the two young mages, but they had been determined to reach it that day.
"We'll get our disguises tomorrow," Marth said, voice quiet and full of fatigue as he dismounted in front of a crowded inn. "Right now I just need to sleep…"
"Don't forget about me… I'm tired too…" Roy answered with a yawn. He handed the reins to Marth. It was safer for the ex-prince to put the horses in the stable rather than get the rooms.
The ex-general trudged into the inn and searched around the crowd of people for someone who could help. He frowned and stepped up to a bar, catching sight of a large man serving drinks.
"How do I get a room?" Roy yelled over the din.
The beer-smelling innkeeper snorted and looked down at him
"'Taint possible. There's nuthin' left here," he replied.
Roy face fell, but he gathered himself up again, clenching his fist with a determined look.
"Look, if this place was full, then you'd have a sign saying so. Give me a room," he said through his teeth.
"A room's more than you can pay, boy."
The teen fished some gold coins out of his pack and thrust them at the innkeeper. His eyes flashed, daring the man to challenge him.
"One night. And there's more where that came from if we decide to stay longer."
The innkeeper's eyes shone with greed and he snatched the coins up, snapping his fingers. A servant girl appeared, obviously the one to show him to the room.
Once he had gotten the key and put his pay down, Roy ran to the back and met Marth, who was waiting for him. There were stable servants to take care of the animals, so there was no need to look after them any further.
Marth followed silently behind Roy, bowing his head so that he would not be recognized. The boy-general locked the heavy wooden door quickly behind them and let out a sigh.
The room was not worth the money he had paid for it. There was one bed, a few candles, one window (which Roy shut and covered), and other miscellaneous dirty furniture.
"Sorry, this was all I could get…" Roy muttered under his breath.
Marth inclined his head slightly and stripped down to his breeches tiredly. The ex-prince fell into the medium-sized bed and closed his eyes. Roy did the same and followed soon after, emitting a tired sigh. His hand sought Marth's under the covers and held it.
Marth pulled Roy closer to him, wrapping his free arm around the general.
"Tell me if this is too much." He murmured.
Roy didn't answer. He was either fine with the skin-on-skin contact or fast asleep.
The next morning dawned cold and overcast- just as Marth liked it. Roy was still deeply asleep so Marth left him be. The young general deserved it. Silently, Marth got out of bed and pulled on his clothing, including his large cloak. Pulling the hood up, he stole out of the room and went down to the stables.
It was early enough so that there were very few people awake and about. Only a few sleepy-eyed stable boys witnessed their former Prince saddle his large grey stallion and ride off into the misty morning.
The streets of the large city wound around Marth like a maze, familiar from another life. So much had happened since he had last seen these things, so much had changed…
The blue-haired man rode to the gates of the palace… His palace. His home, he reminded himself.
'This is my country. And these people are my people. And it is my duty to reclaim them. I cannot fail now after coming so far. I will not.'
Cloud chomped on the bit, stirring Marth. The prince patted his stallion's neck fondly.
"Forgive me if I don't come out of this alive, my friend."
He turned and rode back to the inn.
The boy-general tumbled out of bed and dressed himself in a pair of clean clothes, noting that Marth was not there. He snuck downstairs into the slave's quarters and stole the servant girls' clothing after analyzing their body type as they slept. The boy crept back to the room as quietly as possible, his arms full of girl's clothing.
Roy took off everything except his undergarments and pulled a long-sleeved, rust colored maid's dress on over his head. It had a high collar, plain sleeves, but a bit of white lace at the bottom hem- Not new, but good enough. He twirled around in the mirror, liking the way the dress flattered his slim waist. With a small laugh, he took off his headband, letting his hair down, and donned a white apron as well. It was indeed strange, but it would work.
Marth walked in then, having returned from his ride. He stopped short, surprised by the presence of a young woman in his and Roy's room.
"Excuse me, miss, but-" He stopped and blinked. "Roy?"
The teen in the dress turned around, caught sight of Marth, and his bright blue eyes widened visibly in surprise. A faint blush colored his cheeks.
"It's me," he said quietly with a small curtsy.
"I… see." Marth circled around Roy, eying him. "You look good."
Marth found the clothing that Roy had gotten for him and stripped down as well to pull them on.
He found himself in a simple dark blue dress of plain, worn cloth. It was a little snug across his shoulders and was a little short, but it would do. He 'fluffed' his hair a bit and curtsied to Roy.
"My lady," he murmured in a voice that was much more feminine than normal.
Roy bowed again and turned away, his face serious once again. He examined his chest, deciding that they both would have to put something down the front of their dresses.
"It doesn't matter if I look good… Only that it's believable."
"We could paint our faces like women do. Lip rouge and all that." Marth nibbled a nail thoughtfully. "I used to watch my mother do it."
Roy blinked, touching his face briefly.
"That would be good, except I didn't grow up around women, so will you help me on that?"
Marth nodded, taking the dress off again.
"Certainly. When do we want to go to the castle?"
"That's just what I was about to ask you, so…" Roy answered. "Let's go today- Now even. I want to get this plan of ours underway… It might seem a bit impatient of me, but I'm serious about this."
Marth thought it over for a moment before nodding.
"Change back and check us out. I'll get the horses ready." He swiftly got back into his normal clothes.
"Hold on, we can't just waltz up there in our regular clothing, say 'Hello, wait just one minute while we become girls' and expect them to hire us. I think we're going to have to leave the horses here and go on foot after we check out," Roy answered, pulling on his pants and tunic. "I've thought this out… And, seeing as you've never really had a problem getting inside your own castle, I think you should leave this to me."
Marth nodded again.
"True. But what about our normal clothes and weapons? Shall we hide them somewhere?"
"Damn… That is a problem. I say we work for one day, then smuggle those in at night, and attack the next day… That's assuming that all goes as planned…" The boy-general packed the girl clothes in his pack and slung it over his shoulder.
"There is a hiding place outside of the castle that we could use. It's known only to the royal family, but I would wager that Gaimen has forgotten about it. We could use that."
"Sounds good… You go pay off some stable hands to take care of the horses for a few days and I'll inform the innkeeper that we are leaving. I don't think he'd care, though," Roy muttered sarcastically, disappearing.
Marth went to do as Roy had said, bribing the stable boy's to take care of his stallion and Roy's mare. He waited down there for the auburn-haired general.
"Everything's set. Let's get some of that makeup stuff you talked about, then set our plan in motion!" Roy said excitedly, his eyes lighting up with the fire he had within. He grasped the gem beneath his shirt briefly.
The Prince's eyes glanced at the object that Roy was holding. He had no idea that the general had kept the fire-in-ice that he had inadvertently made.
"We'll have to either 'borrow' or purchase some ourselves. I opt for 'borrowing'. I'll be right back.'
Marth disappeared, but returned a moment later bearing several small pots.
"Let's go somewhere private and change before I do this."
"I know a place. Follow me." Roy led Marth out into the streets.
They were fairly empty, but it was not a pretty sight. Women and children dressed in rags sat in front of their bare shops. Some were just sitting idly, but others washed clothes. There was the sound of crying and a hushed whisper.
"Don't worry, we'll get through this… My Roland got taken a week ago. I thought we were fine, but the taxes just kept getting higher…"
Roy frowned and could feel Marth's tension radiating from him. He continued to walk and entered a bar, going directly to the restroom. The teen locked the door behind them and began to get dressed.
"He's taxing my people into starvation…" The Prince whispered in a harsh, numb voice. "And taking them captive…"
He shook his head to clear it and began to change into his dress. Roy emerged, already in his. Marth turned to him, straightening his collar.
"Hold still and close your eyes. I'm going to paint your face."
Roy did as he was told and Marth opened the small jars, setting them aside. Eyes focused and intent on Roy's face, he began to delicately and precisely apply rouge to the general's lips.
'Not bad considering I've never done this before,' he thought, looking at them critically.
"Now I'm going to do your cheeks and eyes."
The Prince put the rouge on Roy's cheeks to give him a lively look (but not enough to clash with his hair) and put grey around the boy's eyes, giving them a smoky look.
"You're done. Look in the mirror." Marth turned and also began to apply the makeup to himself.
"Alright…" Roy replied, getting used to the strange substance on his lips. Upon seeing his self in the mirror, he almost fell over in shock. "That is not me."
The boy-general leaned in closer to his reflection, puckering his lips slightly and staring in disbelief.
"This is unbelievable… If I were really a girl, would you want to court me?"
Marth turned back to Roy. The Prince no longer appeared to be a Prince, but a Princess. His lips and eyes painted and his hair arranged in a distinctively feminine manner. Marth could have fooled most people into thinking he was female.
"As I want to court you now, it is safe to assume that my answer would be yes." He answered, reaching over to fix Roy's wild auburn locks.
"I'm not sure whether it's a blessing or extreme oddity that I am talented in the area of face-painting, but in this situation it proved useful," he remarked quietly. "Come, we don't have long to tarry."
After stuffing the front of their dresses to create the illusion of breasts, the former Prince and General hurried to the castle.
"You talk too proper to be a commoner, Marth. Try not to sound too stuck up, okay?" Roy sneered good-naturedly. The castle gates loomed closer.
"Can't I just be a mute?" Marth muttered, glancing up at the guards.
"Shush."
Roy approached the guards, recognizing them immediately. He tried not to look suspicious and cleared his throat to change his voice.
"We here that most of the servants are on strike…" The teen began, keeping his head bowed submissively. No one wanted a servant who looked him or her in the eye.
One of them eyed the two "women" and grunted in acknowledgement.
"Alright, what do yeh want, girl?"
"We want work. A full day's labor for minimum wage- You can't get any cheaper than that," Roy answered.
There was a pause as one guard glanced to the other.
"I'll take yeh to the head of cleaning and see if she wants to do anything with yeh. C'mon," he said gruffly, taking out a key and entering a small door to the side of the gates.
They were lead into the huge castle (which looked like a gloomy fortress now) and down into the lower levels. Beneath the grand higher levels were the laborers and even further, the jail.
A large, sweaty woman approached them. Her hair was done up in a messy bun and her eyes were weary.
"Here's two. Send 'em out if you don't want 'em," the burly man said, then left.
The woman stepped forward and took Marth and Roy's hands in hers, examining them. They were rough with calluses, but from swordplay, not work. She didn't know the difference.
"Your names?"
"Uhm… Margaret and Miranda," Roy answered quickly.
"My cousin Margaret and I are hard workers. You won't regret hiring us, I promise," Marth said softly, averting his eyes as well.
The mistress nodded slowly.
"Get to work. You'll start with the linens- It's hard work, but you two look like sturdy girls. At the end of the day, ask one of the others to lead you to the barracks. Feel free to ask them any questions." She lead them to a hot, steamy room filled with tubs of boiling water.
"You start now."
TBC…
Xan: Bwahahahaha! Hope you liked this one as much as the last one. Things are really heating up for our boys, ain't they? But don't worry – it'll get worse before it gets better.
Vallen: Definitely more fun stuff later. TTFN. What did you think of our beautiful boys cross-dressing?